Phantasmagoria
by Xxmilk-candy1996xX
Summary: One day a new student transferred to Natsume's class, but soon Natsume noticed something odd about him, and uncovers a past even darker than his.
1. Chapter 1

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Phantasmagoria_

_Chapter 1 ~ Akatsuki Homura__赤月炎

* * *

_

"_Mama, why didn't you tell me that there was a visitor?"_

"_Eh? What are you talking about, Homu-chan?"_

"_There," he said, pointing at where a woman with long hair stood near the door._

_His mother had something like fear registered in her face, but she soon smiled and petted his head. "You shouldn't talk to those kind of people, okay?"_

_Hours later he heard his parents talking._

"_He's seeing them again. Those… spirits."_

Akatsuki Homura opened his eyes, staring at the light coffee color of his bedroom wall over his pillow. He had just moved here yesterday, to this countryside. And he was tired.

He can see things that most people can't—ayakashi. He had been 'gifted' with that sight since birth. He felt quite the opposite. It was a living curse.

His parents were successful, and they were rich, but they were almost never home. They knew about his sight, and treated him well, pretending not to notice. Until now Homura didn't know whether his parents loved him, or were just good at pretending.

After they received a job offer overseas, he was left in the care of his aunts, always shifting around sometimes when they had problems. It didn't go too well at either of his aunts'. The bullying just seemed to get worse and worse, so it was no wonder he had to move after every incident that went too bad.

But he had a friend at Aunt Mizuka's. A true friend, one he could really depend on. He hung out with him, even though he pretty much knew he was strange from all the rumors.

But he's dead now.

Homura got up lazily and stretched, yawning. _Guess I'd better explore this place._

He got out of his room, and stared around at his new apartment. After Seiji's death he moved here to live alone. His parents gave him some money for furniture. They even bought him an apartment.

After showering he crossed the living room on his way to the kitchen, and passed the 'picture wall'. He stared at the picture frames hung around the wall, stroking his piano. It was formerly his parents', but they couldn't possibly have hauled it all the way overseas, so it's his now. There were pictures of his family, some more recent ones with Seiji, and some other random ones he took.

He scanned every picture, and stopped at one. It was his birthday, and after school Seiji pulled him to his house and threw a little birthday party for him there. In the picture they were posing dramatically in front of the little cake, along with Seiji's eight-year-old sister Shiina.

He smiled a small smile. "Good morning, Seiji."

* * *

Homura stopped at a nearby house. _So that's my school… _he thought as he watched the students file out the gates.

He heard shuffling on the ground, and looked down to see a fat cat.

_What an unusual cat… Or is it actually a white-and-orange species of rare raccoon? _he thought dryly.

"Ceh. Where _is _that Natsume? I'll make him pay for making me wait!"

…_Eh? _Homura looked left and right, then back down at the cat. _Did it just talk?_

He watched it walk away, and turned to walk the other way.

_Must have been my imagination…

* * *

_

"Natsumeee~" Nyanko-sensei latched itself on Natsume's feet.

"Nyanko-sensei!" Natsume bent down and picked him up.

"Eh? Your house's cat?" Nishimura said. "Amazing! It can remember the way to school! Don't tell me it can flush the toilet after using it too?"

Kitamoto shoved him lightly. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Nishimura?"

Natsume laughed as Nishimura and Kitamoto fought. They were walking along the path with thick trees on either side. It was where the first time Natsume talked to them, after he sprang out of the bushes, chased by a giant one-eyed youkai.

"Kaaa~ I can't wait to eat Touko-san's food! She's such an awesome cook!" Nishimura gushed, changing the subject.

Natsume noticed some rustling amongst the bushes ahead of them, to their left.

_Don't tell me it's a youkai_, he thought warily.

Somebody jumped out of the bushes and dropped down to the ground, startling all of them. His clothes were dirty and his hair was messy, and he was panting, like he was being chased by somebody.

"Hey! Are you alright? !" Kitamoto rushed to him, shaking him. Nishimura knelt by them.

Nyanko-sensei sniffed the air. "Something was chasing him."

"Youkai?"

The cat nodded.

"Natsume!" Nishimura said. "What do we do? He's asleep! Don't tell me he's gonna be Sleeping Beauty here!"

"Let's take him to Touko-san," Natsume said. "It's the closest to here.

* * *

Homura opened his eyes slowly, trying to work out what happened.

Oh, right.

He was chased by a youkai when he was walking around in the woods. He had run a really long distance and had been scratched here and there by branches but he didn't stop. If he stopped he would die. With that thought constantly in your mind who would?

He quickly realized something. He wasn't lying in his bed. He was in a futon in an unfamiliar room.

Oh no.

He was instantly on his feet, and burst out of the room, looking left and right. He noticed the stairs and bound down them two steps at a time.

Just as he reached the bottom somebody talked to him.

"Ara, you're awake. How are you feeling?" a kind-looking elderly woman said.

It sounds pathetic, but it scared the living hell out of him. He backed away, and felt the wall behind him. He noticed the front door to his right.

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you," she said. "You were unconscious and Takashi-kun and his friends brought you here. I'm Fujiwara Touko, just call me Touko-san." She held out her hand for a shake.

Homura gasped slightly, looking at the outstretched hand. He jumped back and bowed shortly.

"S-Sorry…!" He quickly got in his shoes and ran.

"Wait!" He could hear her shout behind him.

He ran for some distance, and stopped momentarily.

_No way… Where am I…? _The sun was setting; soon 'they' would come out. He looked to his left, panicking. _If I'm right that's the way to school. I'll get back there and retrace my steps back home from there. _He ran in that direction.

Running. He was used to it. He ran away from youkai, he ran away from bullies, he ran away from humans. He ran away from everything. His life was a constant race of him against everybody else; he would never reach the goal.

Homura didn't understand. Even from a relatively long distance youkai would already sense him. They shouldn't be able to know that he can see as soon as they set eyes on him, and they wouldn't shut up about eating him because he smelled delicious.

As for the humans, they would approach him nicely at first, introducing themselves and holding out their hands for a hand-shake. But once they noticed he wasn't normal, they would either turn him away in case absurdity and lying was contagious, or they would sneer at him and bully him. They always do. Only Seiji didn't, and because of that Seiji died.

He noticed a tiny little youkai, a tiny little version of Thumbelina. He ignored it.

He finally reached home, and sprawled down on the couch, breathless. A blood-covered Seiji entered his mind.

He won't let anyone close to him anymore. No more. No one should get involved.

But of course, Seiji wouldn't allow him to do that.

He won't get anyone involved. They wouldn't even know. From now on he would become a different Akatsuki Homura.

He would start to live a lie. He'd most probably become the biggest liar in all of Japan, or in the whole world, but he'd do it.

To protect others.

* * *

_Too bad I won't have much time to update my stories... School started and I have a big exam this year..._


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello there… Another update~~

* * *

_

_Natsume Yuujinchou _

_Phantasmagoria_

_Chapter 2 ~ Friends…? __トモダチ。。。? Tomodachi...?  
_

"Everybody! News, big news!" Nishimura said as he burst into the classroom.

"What, Nishimura?" Kitamoto asked.

"A transfer student!"

That instantly caught everybody's attention.

"Who?"

"Is it a guy, or a girl?"

"It's a guy!" Nishimura said. "But fellow men, it seems that we would lose, because girls, it's a bishie!"

The guys groaned and the girls chattered happily. Nishimura went over and sat in front of Natsume and Kitamoto, mock crying.

"Haha, what's up with you?" Natsume said.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? The opponent's a bishie! I would never get a girlfriend! I had a crush and you took Taki away!"

"Bishie? And I told you countless times—I'm not in that kind of relationship with Taki. We're just friends, that's all."

"Bishie! Ikemen!" Nishimura said, whole-heartedly ignoring the last two sentences.

"Ah." Natsume understood. "You mean 'handsome'."

"By the way what happened to the guy we met yesterday?" Kitamoto asked.

"Ah, he's—" Natsume's sentence was broke off by the class teacher entering the classroom.

"Hey now, get back to your seats," she said. "We have a transfer student today, but it seems that Nishimura already found out and opened that big mouth of his."

Everybody laughed and Nishimura grinned, going back to his seat.

"Well then. You can come in now," she said to the person outside. A guy stepped in, standing beside the teacher.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Akatsuki Homura," he said in a voice that sounded like it had been programmed to say that numerous times, and bowed lightly. As his name literally suggests, his hair was a fiery shade of reddish-brown, as was his eyes, though they were of a brighter shade. He was slim and tall.

"So, Akatsuki-kun here has transferred quite a lot, but it seems that he would settle down here for a while. His parents work overseas, so he's currently living alone," the teacher said.

"Woah, he's living alone!"

"I'm so jealous!"

"Cool!"

The teacher cleared her throat, and the murmur slowly died down. "Now, where will I seat you…"

"Sensei, sensei! The seat beside Natsume is empty since Masuda transferred!" Nisimura announced loudly.

"I see. Okay then, you'll be sitting next to Natsume-kun over there. Our class representative is Sasada Jun; Natsume and Sasada are reliable people so you can count on them."

"What about me, Sensei?" Nishimura asked.

"Kitamoto there is reliable too, but people like Nishimura there, hmm… not quite."

Nishimura pretended to look crestfallen. "Sensei!"

The whole class laughed.

Homura walked over to Natsume's place, and sat in the empty seat beside him.

"Hi," Natsume said. "I'm Natsume Takashi."

Homura bowed lightly. "Hi…"

Natsume noticed something familiar about Akatsuki. _Right, the guy that passed out yesterday and ran away when he woke up!_

The teacher started teaching, and Homura pushed his desk next to Natsume's so they could share textbooks.

Natsume wrote on a piece of paper, and pushed it to Homura. He looked at it questioningly.

_Are you okay already?_

He stared at it for a few seconds before he finally understood. He looked at Natsume in shock. Natsume put a finger to his lips, signaling for him to be quiet, and continued writing.

_Yesterday it was me, Kitamoto and Nishimura that found you._

_Now that you mention it, that old lady did say something about 'Takashi-kun'. Thanks for helping me, _Homura wrote in reply.

_What happened back there, Akatsuki?_

Homura hesitated before writing. _Ah, I saw a stray dog in the woods when I was exploring. I'm bad with dogs. It chased me, so I ran. _It wasn't all a lie, he _was _bad with dogs.

Natsume chewed his lip thoughtfully and said nothing.

* * *

It was the first few seconds of lunch break, and people started crowding around Homura.

"Akatsuki-kun, where did you live before this?"

"Nee Akatsuki, what club are you going to enter?"

"Akatsuki-kun, what are your hobbies?"

Homura did his best to answer their questions, but he was growing weary of it. _Ah, this is the first time I've talked so much… I never knew 'normal' people are like this… It's kinda annoying…_

Natsume wanted to get away too, but they were mostly surrounded by students. "I'm not good with people," he said quietly to Homura.

_Thank God! _Homura stood up, taking his convenience-store bento, and Natsume taking his. "Sorry everybody, but Natsume promised me he'd take me around." They ran away.

They stopped beside the toilet, catching their breath.

"Natsume~!" Nishimura yelled some distance away.

_Oops. _Natsume stepped out into the corridor, Homura following him closely. "Nishimura, Kitamoto."

"Mou, Natsume! Where did you go? ! Even though I told you to wait for us…"

"Ah, Akatsuki, you're here too," Kitamoto said. "I'm Kitamoto, and he's Nishimura."

"What, were you giving him a tour? No fair, Natsume! I wanna tag along too!"

"I thought Sensei said you weren't quite reliable," Natsume said, smiling.

"That's it, no food for you," Nishimura said, turning around.

Natsume stopped him quickly, placing a hand on his right shoulder. "Ahh, sorry. No, wait. I have my bento. You can go away if you want, Nishimura. We're not stopping you."

Nishimura instantly turned around with a teary face. "Natsume~"

Since you don't know anyone else, how about coming to eat with us, Akatsuki?" Kitamoto asked, ignoring them.

"Ah, good idea!" Nishimura agreed.

"Eh, is it okay?" Homura asked a little timidly.

"Of course!"

"Natsume?" Tanuma said, coming down the stairs with Taki behind him. "And Nishimura and Kitamoto. Who's that?"

"Tanuma, it's a transfer student!" Nishimura said.

"Transfer student?" Tanuma and Taki echoed.

"Yep, transfer student!" Nishimura affirmed.

Several seconds of silence passed.

"What nonsense are you talking about, Nishimura?" Kitamoto said.

"What~? It's true, isn't it?"

"Hey," Tanuma said. "I'm Tanuma. Tanuma Kaname."

"And I'm Taki Tooru!" Taki said, holding out her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

Homura stiffened, and Natsume noticed. He slowly shook Taki's hand. "I'm Akatsuki Homura."

"Akatsuki, huh. Well, come on. Or we won't get to eat," Tanuma said.

* * *

They were sitting outside, all eating.

"What were you guys doing just now?" Taki asked.

"Nishimura could clearly be heard from one floor up," Tanuma added.

"Ah, everybody was bugging Akatsuki," Natsume said.

"… Homura's fine…"

"Hmm?" The others looked at him.

"Call me Homura…"

"But—" Natsume was cut off.

"I don't like my family name, that's why. I like Homura better." He smiled.

"Then, Homura-kun! Once again, nice meeting you!" Taki said.

Homura smiled. "Thank you, Taki."

_I made it… I got to know people… So this is how it's like being 'normal'… _A determined light entered Homura's eyes. _So now I just have to make sure nobody ever finds out about the former Akatsuki Homura…

* * *

_

**Here I'll explain Homura's name. ^_^**

**Akatsuki Homura ****赤月 炎****. 'Aka' means red, 'tsuki' means moon, and 'homura' is fire. Hence, 'his hair was a fiery shade of reddish brown'. **

**And 'phantasmagoria' means ****a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination**. **It also means ****a shifting medley of real or imagined figures, as in a dream.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hello again~~ This chapter is entirely of Homura's memories/point of view. And, it is quite long… ****  


* * *

**_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Phantasmagoria_

_Chapter 3_

_Suicide __自殺 __Jisatsu_

"Come on, Homura!" Seiji pleaded, lying on top of Homura's bed while Homura drew in his sketchbook, ignoring him completely.

Seiji watched Homura bent over his desk with a pout. "Ho, mu, _ra! _Let's go! I'm just gonna show you the place and then we'll come back and you can continue drawing!" Seiji said, light brown hair falling over his darker pools of chocolate.

"But it's _late _already! I'm too lazy to go out!" Homura lied. Actually, he _did _want to go to the 'secret place' Seiji said that was in the forest, but usually at this time youkai would go scampering about.

Seiji pouted again. "How come it's late? It's only 2.30…"

Homura looked at his watch. "2.45," he corrected nonchalantly.

Things stayed quiet for a while, the only sound emanating from the light pencil strokes against thick paper.

"… Please?"

"No."

Seiji stood up. "Fine! I'll go myself! Who needs a lazy-ass like Akatasuki Homura? I'll go there and enjoy myself and draw graffiti on tree barks if I have to! Then I'll write 'drawn exclusively by Kagurazaka Seiji'! Wah hah ha! Wah hah hah ha!"

Homura sighed. "Just a few minutes, okay?"

Seiji pumped his fist downwards, a sign of victorious glory.

* * *

A short little youkai observed two humans from above a rocky hill. One of them smelled too good to be true.

_Maybe he is from an exorcist's family,_ it thought excitedly and grinned. _They are happy and laughing now, but what will they look like if they are hurt or, better yet, dead? _

It gave the heavy rocks around a little push. Just a slight, little push. One slight push might lead to inescapable death. Down they go, tumbling towards the two human children below.

* * *

"Where is it, Seiji?" Homura asked.

"It's over there, we'll get there soon."

"What _is _the 'secret place'?"

"Hehehe… See for yourself! It's like a little patch, full of flowers! It's really beautiful!"

"Flowers?" _He brought me here, being open targets to youkai, for…flowers?_

"Mm-hmm! The sun shines down on it so it's real bright. I just thought that they'll turn out great when you take—" Seiji looked at Homura's empty hands. "Ah damn, I forgot to ask you to bring your camera."

_Oh, so he brought me here so I could take more pictures._

They talked some more, joking around, and laughing hysterically when Seiji tripped over his own shoelace, and stepped on some moss which he thought was animal poop.

Suddenly they heard sounds. It was like something was rolling and crashing down their way. And it sounded directly above them.

"Look out!" Seiji cried, shoving Homura away.

Rocks—big rocks, little rocks, sharp rocks. They all rained down on them, and crushed and buried them.

Homura supposed he had passed out for a few seconds. He couldn't move, and his body hurt all over. As he tried to focus on his surroundings he noticed Seiji, under a huge rock. Cuts, bruises, and other wounds covered him, so Homura guessed he himself must've looked the same.

At that instant he saw a short youkai on top of the hill. It was too far away for him to make out its ugly features, but it was unmistakably clear that it was the one that caused this catastrophe. Homura stared at it in horror and disgust as it grinned, then disappeared out of sight.

The next second it reappeared in front of him, making him gasp. It bent down, forcing Homura to look at its hideous features. It had grayish wrinkly skin and three blood-red eyes, and its mouth was wide and his teeth looked carnivorous.

It laughed—no, more like cackled, like a witch. "Child, what are you? Are you from an exorcist's family? No. More importantly, you can see me, can't you? Interesting. You are too interesting, human! Your blood makes other ayakashi around go crazy." It bent in closer and licked a wound on his head, where a more-or-less egg-sized rock made contact with it and left blood trailing down. Homura flinched, keeping his eyes tightly shut.

"…Go… away…"

The youkai ignored him. Homura's hands started to shake.

"Go away! Why did you do this? ! If it's me you want then you didn't have to involve Seiji! He has nothing to do with this!"

The youkai lifted its head and positioned it directly in front of Homura's. There was a smudge of blood on its cheeks. _His _blood. It made Homura sick from deep in the pit of his stomach.

"Because it's interesting. Do you not know that it is dangerous to bring other humans into this forest, especially when there are other powerful ones roaming around? Foolish little human. I should just eat you right now and get this over with." It bent closer and opened its mouth again. Homura tried to turn his head away, but it grabbed hold of his head, turning it itself. It bared its fangs and dug it in Homura's flesh.

Homura gasped and writhed, trying to break away. He could feel it sucking his blood, and it didn't feel good. He wanted to scream and yell for help, but he was tired. Too tired. His so-called 'screams' came out as whimpers and whines.

"Ho…mura…?" Seiji had regained consciousness, opening his eyes slowly. He saw Homura lying in a weird angle, with his head turned to the side and his whole body trembling. He was whimpering in pain.

"Sei…ji…"

"What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself somewhere?" he asked even though _he _was the one who was more seriously—and fatally—hurt. Homura didn't answer. Suddenly he jerked, head snapping backwards, a strangled cry ripping itself from his throat. That's when Seiji saw a trail of blood flowing freely down his neck.

* * *

Kagurazaka Seiji knew. He knew that his best friend Akatsuki Homura was somehow, strange. His face would sometimes suddenly turn white and he would look at the ground, as if averting his eyes from someone. But Seiji knew it wasn't 'someone', it was 'something'. The rumors had been going around school high-tension for days until it finally died down when he started hanging out with him. Rumors about how he would sometimes show up at school with injuries, even though nobody had ever fought with him before. How, after a certain period of time, somebody _would _fight him, some dumb asshole who thought Homura had been fighting with punks and whatnot and had wanted to become 'popular'. Popular his ass.

And also, how people would get hurt if they got too close with the guy. Seiji had modified the sentence. 'Hurt' wasn't the term they were using, it was more like 'cursed'. But still, he had found him interesting, and very lonely. He was sure that the rumors revolving around his universe, might be false, but also might be true, yes, but still he was sure that he wasn't all that frightening. The only downside was that the rumors had been flowing for so long, and Homura didn't show any sign to stop it, which is why everyone believed them. Even the teachers seemed to keep a distance from him.

He had casually asked Homura to eat with him during lunch one day. As expected, he was shocked out of his skin. But he had agreed, albeit a little shyly. Not long after that people started interrogating him—don't get close to him, he might get hurt, blah blah blah. He ignored them all. Homura was the only person he had ever felt so close to. It was like they were brothers.

Seiji would even give up his life to save Homura's if he had to.

* * *

It was agonizing. Homura guessed that vampire victims must've felt like this too, if vampires were real. He heard Seiji call his name, and he called his, when the youkai buried itself deeper, obviously wanting more. That was why his head snapped back and a smothered cry escaped his mouth. _Why does it have to do this? It could've just killed me first._

The youkai sensed that Seiji was awake. It drew its head back. "Tch, the human's awake." Then it disappeared, just like that.

"Homura, what happened? Was that… a youkai?"

"A-Ahh…" Homura drew his hand to the wound.

"You know, Homura… I can't move. I think I broke a few bones."

"Does it hurt?" He was dizzy from the loss of blood.

"I think I might die."

Silence enveloped them for a while.

"…We'll live," Seiji suddenly said. "We'll definitely live. I won't lose to that kind of damned youkai." He coughed. It didn't sound good. "We'll get better, and go to school, and study, and hang out, and play music, you'll draw and take pictures, and I'll help you, and we'll try to set up the light music club, and… and I'll do guitar, you'll be the keyboardist, then we'll find other members. So… don't lose hope. Somebody's bound to realize we're gone too long." Silently, he thought that would be impossible. His mom knows that he hangs out with Homura a lot, and vice versa. They would think it'd be like normal days when they came home a little late. It would be ages before they realize something was wrong. He just wished he could move and dial the emergency line.

And Homura thought so too. He was slowly losing consciousness; spots were beginning to dance in his line of vision. "Seiji… Don't die. You can't. Not ever."

"You too, Homura. Homura… I'm sorry. I should've never brought us here. This wouldn't have happened if I listened to you." _I seriously feel like I'm dying._

Homura knew what was going through Seiji's mind. "Seiji, don't! We'll be fine!"

Seiji smiled.

"Why?" Homura asked in a quivering tone. "Why did you save me?"

"Isn't that obvious? You're my best friend, Akatsuki Homura."

Homura's vision blurred. _No… Not yet…! _"Sei…ji…"

"It's okay, Homura. Just close your eyes and rest."

The last thing Homura saw was Seiji's smiling face.

* * *

It as blinding white when Homura first opened his eyes.

"Ah, Akatsuki-kun, you're awake! I'm so relieved…" said an unfamiliar woman in a nurse's uniform.

_A hospital? I don't remember falling sick or anything. _

_Seiji._

He shot up, and instantly regretted it. Pain coursed through his whole body like an electric shock and it hurt like hell, but he tried his best to ignore it. The nurse looked alarmed and set her file down.

"Where's Seiji?"

She cast her eyes downwards. "We're sorry. Kagurazaka-kun is already…"

_No. No no no no no. _He yanked out the needle from his arm and swung himself out of the bed. Dizziness instantly washed over him and he staggered. Luckily the nurse caught him.

"Akatsuki-kun! You can't do this!"

"No… Let me see Seiji…"

"I can't permit you, especially when you are in this state! You're still weak and unstable!"

Homura stopped struggling. "But I'm alive, aren't I?"

The nurse stopped trying to refrain him.

"Please. Just let me see him," Homura whispered. He sounded pathetic, but he couldn't care less at the time.

"Sawako." A doctor stood in the doorway, pushing an empty wheelchair. "It's okay. Let him visit Kagurazaka-san for the last time."

They made him sit down and then the doctor left. Homura recognized some of Seiji's relatives from his family pictures. Only this time they weren't having their faces lit up by smiles. He saw Seiji's mom and little sister Shiina too, crying.

The nurse pushed the wheelchair into an empty room, save for a bed and Seiji lying lifelessly on top of it. Homura bit his lip. "I'm sorry, can I be alone for a while?" he asked quietly.

The nurse left without another word and waited outside.

He looked long and hard at Seiji's pale face, hopelessly wishing he would wake up and say that he was just pulling everybody's strings with a silly smile on his face. But he didn't. The smile on his face right then wasn't silly at all.

"Seiji, wake up, won't you?"

Homura tried to get up. He failed miserably. He fell to his knees next to Seiji's head, hands gripping the bedside. He didn't dare touch him. He didn't want to feel the coldness of Seiji's skin, never to warm up again. The wheelchair behind him had fallen over.

When nurse Sawako came in to see what was wrong she saw Akatsuki on the floor with his head downcast and his back to her. The wheelchair had fallen over.

"Are you okay Akatsuki-kun?" she asked gently, reaching out her hand to touch him.

"Don't come closer!"

Her hand froze, but then continued to reach out for him. "Akatsuki-kun…"

"Don't touch me!" He hunched downwards some more. "Leave me alone…!"

"Don't be like this, Akatsuki-kun."

"Why? Why did Seiji die instead of me? I should've been the one that died. Why?" He seemed to be talking to himself rather than with her. Her concern deepened.

She put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't react. "Don't say that, Akatsuki-kun. You should be glad you're still alive."

"It's my fault. It's all my fault. I… killed Seiji."

"No you didn't. It was a horrible accident. Nobody is at fault here."

Homura didn't even hear her. _Seiji is dead, and I don't know what to do about it. _

_It's all your fault.

* * *

_

Homura sat in the middle of the bed back in his ward, hugging himself and crying, The nurse stayed silent, peeling an apple.

Her work was half-finished when somebody knocked on the door. She put the knife and the half-peeled apple on a plate on the small bedside cupboard and went to open the door.

"Mrs. Kagurazaka," she said. "Do come in."

Homura stiffened slightly and swallowed, still hugging himself and not looking up. He wasn't at all ready to face her yet.

"May I get you two something warm?" the nurse asked.

"Thank you," Mrs. Kagurazaka said.

The nurse stepped closer to her. "I beg of you to not say anything that might depress him further, Mrs. Kagurazaka. He is very unstable right now. We're afraid he might act irrationally." After saying that she went out.

Homura lifted his head slowly. "Oba-s—"

Her right palm struck his left cheek painfully before he got to finish. His head snapped to the right upon impact and the awful headache started again. _Ah… There's nothing wrong about this… I had expected it anyways…_

"I'm sorry…" His hand slid to the reddening mark on his cheek. Not only did his cheek hurt, he had bit the inside too. Tears continued to flow down his face again. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Mrs. Kagurazaka clenched her fists tightly at her sides, biting down on her lower lip. "... What did you do? Seiji's a good kid; he shouldn't have had this sort of destiny planned out for him! But why is he dead because of you? !"

"I didn't ask him to die for me; I swear I didn't. I wouldn't have let him push me out of the way if I'd realized what was happening. You know I would. This all happened because I wasn't stubborn enough. I'm sorry…"

"Do you think I would accept such an excuse?"

"Yeah, you're right. Even if I apologize and repent about this for the rest of my life; even if I said 'sorry' millions and millions of times it still wouldn't add up. It wouldn't make up for even the slightest bit." Homura dropped his head in his hand. It was throbbing by then, a dull _thump thump thump_.

The door opened and the nurse came in bearing a tray with two mugs of tea. Nobody moved. Mrs. Kagurazaka kept on staring at the ground; Homura kept on sitting still with his head pounding in his hand. He swallowed. He wasn't feeling so good at the moment. He wondered if he would feel like this forever, the remorse engraved into his very essence.

"Akatsuki-kun," the nurse said gently. "Your tea is here. Be careful, okay? You're still weak and I don't want you spilling any hot stuff on yourself. I'll be talking to Mrs. Kagurazaka for a bit outside."

Homura didn't respond. The nurse sighed and led Mrs. Kagurazaka outside.

_I'm done for. My life was empty and dull for a very long time, then somebody came and changed it all for me. I began to see new hope, began to think that humans weren't that cruel. And now, I had gotten caught up in all that new experience and excitement—only to see it crumbling down again. I'll never be the same. _

_No wait. If I was never here then this all wouldn't have happened. The only obstacle here is me. If I were never here Seiji wouldn't have died. _He remembered what the nurse had whispered to Seiji's mom about him with 'the possibility of acting irrationally'. He smirked. _Irrational my ass. But I guess I'm still gonna do it. _

He started breathing a little heavily, and his body was burning up. He felt dreadful; he guessed the painkillers must be wearing off. He spotted the knife the nurse had used to peel the apple, just beside his mug of tea.

After years of experience, Homura had come to his own personal theorem. Getting beat up did hurt, but it made him feel like he was alive. Pain was the only thing anybody feels directly. It had cleared his otherwise empty mind. He relied on it.

Homura's mind was getting a little fuzzy. He didn't even know what he was going to do. He only knew what he _knew _he had to do. His hand reached shakily towards it. It accidentally touched and pushed the mug. The mug, and its hot contents, fell and broke into a little glass heap.

The nurse and Seiji's mom immediately came into the room once they heard the sound of glass breaking, only to find that Homura had the knife in his hand.

_It's okay, right? Nobody would remember me, except for my family and Seiji's. But they would have a lighter burden on their shoulders once the accursed Akatsuki Homura is dead._

_I just wanted it all to end._

"Homura!" Mrs. Kagurazaka shrieked.

"Put it down, Akatsuki-kun!" the nurse cried.

"It's already too late," he muttered.

_Stab.

* * *

_

_**Around 3000 words? Man, this is the longest chapter I ever wrote!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_Phantasmagoria _

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 4_

_The Youkai in Yatsuhara __八原の妖怪 __Yatsuhara no youkai

* * *

_

Homura opened his eyes. An upbeat little melody rang beside his left ear. _That dream again… _He sat up and stretched, popping his knuckles and turning off his cell phone alarm. _Off to school, off to school…_

In the bathroom, he was taking off his pajamas and paused halfway through when he saw the little reddish scar on his stomach. He didn't know why he survived. But he couldn't attempt suicide again just after surviving it. For the moment he didn't give a damn about it, so he decided to bury that thought deep within him.

He walked to school alone, among all the other students, ignoring all the youkai around, staring at his feet, shuffling one in front of the other. He bumped into someone. "Ah."

Natsume turned around. "Homura," he said. "Are you all right?" There was a massive youkai crossing the path very slowly, as if taking its time leisurely, so he stopped, pretending to be waiting for someone. And he guessed that that someone had just shown up.

"Natsume, good mor…ning." Homura looked up to see him, and when he did he saw the same giant youkai. "Wow, that's big…" he muttered under his breath, too low for Natsume to catch what he was saying.

"What?"

Homura snapped back to 'normal people's' reality. "I mean, uh, the sky." They started walking. "It seems bigger here."

"Really… So, it's been about a week, right? Are you accustomed to living here?"

"I guess… It's so much better living alone."

"Why?"

"Why? Well, you know, my parents work overseas so I was passed around. It shouldn't have been that frequent, but there were… certain circumstances. I'm sick of it. Better to depend on myself than trouble other people and make them suffer…"

Natsume didn't miss the glint of hate and guilt in his eyes, and also the tone of sorrow in his quiet voice near the end. He soon got rid of that expression though, and smiled. "Don't you think? So, what do you like, Natsume?" Homura changed the subject.

"You mean my interests? Hmm… A little of this and that. You?" Natsume hoped Homura didn't think that he sounded uninterested in the topic and that he seemed arrogant. It was just that he wanted to find out more about the mysterious boy.

"I like reading, and music, and taking pictures!" Homura made a motion of taking a picture with his hands. "And playing piano."

"You can play the piano?"

He nodded. "And a little guitar too. Maybe you can come to my house and listen if you want." Homura clamped his hand over his big mouth, glaring at his feet. _Damn it, I went too far. Why would he want to come—_

Natsume had been observing his face closely, and he could see that Homura regretted saying what he'd just said. He smiled. "I'd love to."

* * *

Homura doodled on the bottom part of his History notebook while listening to the teacher droning on. Then he twirled the mechanical pencil, and drummed his other fingers on the shelf under his desk.

Suddenly his left hand acted up, twitching. It dropped the pencil, but he didn't pick it up. He withdrew his left hand into his desk, right hand holding it.

It happened four years ago, when he was in the sixth grade in elementary school. He got beat up by a bunch of bullies, just for the sole reason of 'lying' about seeing a long-haired ghost in the classroom that was looming at the classroom doors earlier that morning. As a matter of fact, the ones who were beating him up were the ones forced to fetch him in class when he refused to go out for music class, in case the ghost noticed him. It had caused trouble for them who didn't manage to bring him to the music room _and _missing class. One of them had stomped on his hand after accidentally getting pushed from another friend and had broke it. As he was lying on the ground and writhing in pain, they had shot off like bullets without a single word.

It had fully recovered, except for the occasional twitching.

Natsume picked the mechanical pencil up while wondering why Homura hadn't retrieved it from the ground. He put it on Homura's desk silently with a note.

_What's wrong? Is there something wrong with your hand?_

_It's nothing. Just a little twitch._

Natsume frowned as Homura looked reassuringly at him and returned to writing notes in his notebook.

* * *

Homura and Natsume were walking back home, that is, until they reach a fork and Natsume would go one way and Homura the other.

Homura saw two short youkai coming their way. One was a one-eyed baldy with a little white moustache, whilst the other was a grayish somewhat dumb-looking cow. He was pretty sure they won't be trying to eat him, or Natsume, but he'd take no chances.

"Natsume, I'll get going now."

"Eh? But that's the way to Yatsuhara."

"I know. I'm just taking a shortcut to the next town. I need to go buy something," he lied.

"Oh, okay then. See you tomorrow."

After Homura left, Natsume turned to the two youkai now waiting impatiently in front of him.

"Hey there, mid-ranks. What's up?"

"Natsume-sama, we're here to warn you!" the baldy said in his usual sing-song way.

"A warning!" the cow echoed.

"What warning?"

"There's a very strong youkai on the loose in Yatsuhara!" The baldy sobbed dramatically. "It's eating weak youkai, but we're sure it'll come to eat us soon! Or if he gets stronger, he'll eat humans! Normally we wouldn't care, but our lives are at stake and also, we can't have Natsume-sama who is the savior of Yatsuhara and his friends attacked and eaten!"

Natsume frowned. "Where is it now?"

"Yatsuhara of course!"

"Of course!" the cow echoed.

He broke into a run, with the two youkai keeping pace behind him.

"Where are you going, Natsume-sama? You seem to be in such a hurry!"

"Yatsuhara."

"Oh! You are going to dispel that fearsome youkai so soon?"

"Yes and no. My friend is passing through Yatsuhara."

"Your friend? That was your friend?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Then shall we hurry? That child is special!"

"Special? What do you mean special?"

"He smells delicious! You can smell him from a mile away!"

"Delicious?" Natsume said incredulously.

"Anyways, if you don't hurry and find him your friend will get eaten, Natsume-sama!"

_Damn. Where's Nyanko-sensei when I need him? Stupid cat. Homura shouldn't have gotten far, but where is he? _Natsume darted his eyes around looking for any sign of movement.

They were at a path now, outside the little stretch of woods. Alongside the path was a little grassy hill, and he saw Homura. He was being choked by a malevolent youkai who had long hair, several feet above the ground. Homura was desperately clawing at the youkai's fingers.

* * *

Homura thought that this might be divine retribution, for he had picked flower petals from a plant growing at a shrine somewhere. Maybe it was payback for lessening the shrine's beauty. Plus, he was choked by another youkai who wanted to eat him.

"Do not worry, human child. Your suffering won't be long," it said in a low voice that suggested it was male.

Suddenly something overwhelmed him, and sleep was the only thought in his mind. It dampened his frantic escapade plans.

_Wait. Why should I try to escape? I had wanted to die before… _

All the remaining strength left his body and his tearing fingers around the youkai's slowly loosened its grip.

* * *

Natsume watched the scene in front of him with horror, feet nailed to the ground. Truthfully, he had never expected this to ever happen. Just as a newfound burst of adrenaline rushed through his body and he was about to dash for them, he sensed a changed in the air. Something slightly like an electrical surge stirred in their surroundings and all the other youkai fled.

"Natsume-sama, it's an exorcist! So now, we will run to safety. See you next time!" The two youkai who had accompanied him too took off with the other restless creatures.

It wasn't long before the youkai choking Homura realized it too. It released Homura down and flew to shelter itself. Natsume took the opportunity to immediately rush to Homura's side.

"Homura, Homura!" Natsume pushed him so his face faced upwards and shook him, but he didn't move. Nor did he even seem to breathe. His neck was getting red and a bit swollen from the youkai's powerful grip.

"Natsume?" A familiar voice floated down from above.

Natsume looked up upon hearing his name. "Natori-san!" He was standing on the path on the hill, looking down at him. From his point of view he couldn't see Homura because of the tall grasses.

"Natsume, what are you doing here? ! I was on a job!" Natori walked down carefully to where Natsume was, and saw Homura. "Looks like I'm too early to say 'I'm glad you weren't hurt'. What happened?"

"That youkai was going to eat him when you came," Natsume said as Natori knelt down and inspected him. He mumbled something Natsume didn't quite catch, and suddenly Homura gasped loudly, panting. He gulped the much-needed oxygen into his lungs.

"Natsu…me…?" Homura mumbled before closing his half-lidded eyes and passing out again.

"Homura." Natsume leaned closer to him but there was no answer.

"It's okay," Natori said, "He's just sleeping for a little while, but at least it's not an eternal one."

"Master," Hiiragi said from atop the hill.

He stood up. "Well then, I'd love to stay, but I'm afraid I couldn't. I trust that you'll take good care of him. He'll be awake soon. See you some other time, Natsume."

"Thank you, Natori-san."

"It's okay; you help us out a lot too. Bye."

Soon after Natori left with Hiiragi Homura stirred, his eyelids fluttering open.

"Ugh… Natsume?" Homura said with mild alarm. _He couldn't have seen, did he?_

"Homura, are you okay? You look sick. You can come to my house to rest if you want to." If he told Homura he passed out after a headache he probably wouldn't suspect anything..

Homura silently breathed a sigh of relief. So he didn't see. "I'm fine, just a little dizzy," he said, sitting up with some effort.

"If you're still unwell you can follow me back home; I'm sure Touko-san wouldn't mind an extra guest." He was worried the youkai earlier would go looking for Homura again.

On the other hand Homura was worried that the youkai earlier would come for him and get Natsume and his family involved. "It's fine. I'll reach home soon. I'll just eat something and then sleep, I promise, so don't worry about me." Homura stood up shakily and took his bag, smiling, while resisting the urge to hide his neck by upturning his collar, which definitely would've turned red by now. He wasn't sure if Natsume had noticed it, but if he did reach up to upturn his collar he certainly would. "I never thought you would wait until I woke up, even if I only passed out for a while, so thank you, Natsume."

Natsume stood up too, hooking his bag on his shoulder. "It's nothing. I couldn't just leave you here."

"You're kind, Natsume. Normally other people would just abandon me," he said quietly, seemingly to himself. Even so Natsume's sharp ears caught every word.

"Homura—"

"See you tomorrow, Natsume. Thanks again for just now, and for your invitation. Bye bye." Homura turned around and walked slowly back to his home, this time finally attaining the solitude he wished for that he knew would not notice anything strange about an upturned collar.

* * *

_**Tra la la la la~~ XD I'm having fun writing this story…! **_


	5. Chapter 5

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou _

_Chapter 5_

_Tengu __天狗

* * *

_

A few days passed without any sign of the youkai. Homura thought that it had gone. Natsume thought otherwise. Natori still hadn't sent word that he had sealed it.

No word from Hiiragi, the paper-doll tsukaima Natori uses, nor from the actor-cum-exorcist himself. As busy as he is, Natori wouldn't have forgotten to send word that it was safe, especially when Natsume's life might depend on it, which usually does. That means it was still on the loose.

Homura was walking home from school, alone after parting with Natsume and the others. His shoelace became untied, and when he bent down to tie it a short youkai came and stole his bag.

"Wai— Oi!" He got up hurriedly and chased after it into the trees beyond.

"Hey! Stop!" _What does it want to do with my bag anyway? _Homura ran a little faster.

He followed it through a clump of bushes into a small clearing. When he broke free of the twigs getting caught in his hair and clothes he saw that the youkai was nowhere in sight, his bag was on the ground, and his clothes were dirty. He stalked to his bag grumpily.

"What, it was playing a prank? Stupid youkai," he muttered, picking up his bag and patting it to get rid of the dust and dirt and dried leaves, just as he saw the shadow of something looming over him from behind. _Uh-oh, not good._

"I found you, human child." It slashed at him with its long sharp fingernails. Even with his heightened reflex developed over the years of defending himself from both human and youkai attacks, he still didn't manage to fully dodge. Three fingernails made their mark along his left arm. At least it didn't make it to his chest, where the nails were aimed for originally.

Homura gripped his bleeding arm, gritting his teeth in pain. He was on the ground some distance from the youkai, and kept his eyes tightly shut as it started to make another move.

One moment he was awaiting another injury, and in the next he was in somebody's arms, and that somebody ran swiftly away. The left-behind youkai shrieked with anger, and chased after them in hot pursuit.

Homura was ushered behind the cover of a bush large enough to hide them both. All around them it was eerily silent, with the occasional shriek the youkai made when it didn't find them.

"Who—"

"Shh," the other person silenced him and brought him closer to him. The youkai was pacing around some short distance away, and soon gave up with much reluctance, eventually going away. They breathed sighs of relief, and Homura thought he heard the fluttering of wings. It sounded close, and he looked around, expecting a bird.

What he did not expect, however, was a winged guy.

He broke away from it. "Youkai? !"

It caught hold of his injured arm, which so happened to be the closest to it, but was careful of not touching the wounds. "Calm down, human. I'm not in the least interested in eating you."

Homura flinched when it touched him, partly because he had expected it to irritate his wounds, and partly because it had casually touched him, just like that. He stared at it warily. It would've passed for a human, if not for its ashen wings. It didn't wear a mask like other human-form taking youkai too. It would have been a pity had it did wear a mask, for it was handsome, with clear deep pools of blue that shone like how the waters in a lake does in the summer sunlight, and ashy hair of a lighter shade than its wings.

"What are you?" Homura asked, momentarily drawn in by its unnatural beauty.

"Hmph, you ignorant little human. Don't you know who I am? Our kind is supposed to be famous in your 'folklore'."

"Folklore?" _The only youkai that I know of which takes on human form and has wings is— _"Tengu?"

"Congratulations. You are correct."

"But I thought that tengu are supposed to wear those red mean-looking masks with long noses."

"Hah! Though I live longer than you you're more outdated than a demon that has been sealed for a thousand years. Some of us don't wear it any longer. Or at least, I don't," it added. It stared at his bleeding arm. "You're pretty calm for somebody that's just been scratched by freakishly long fingernails," it remarked.

"It's okay; I guess I'm used to it. Well then, I'll go home now. I gotta clean this up." Homura stood up, bag in right hand.

"Wait, human." The tengu stood up too, and fumbled in its blue-splotched white haori for something. It pulled out a small packet that looked like it had powder in it. "This should help ease the pain a little. Wounds from upper middle-class youkai like that might be toxic and poisonous for humans like you."

Homura received the packet from its open palm. He realized that they were around the same height, and looked around the same age. He continued to stare at the packet. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"It's a salve. Clean your wound, mix this with water and apply it. It might sting though."

Homura's ears perked up at the 'might sting' part. He looked at the tengu from under his eyelids. "How much?"

The tengu cocked his head a little to the side. "A little," it lied. It was interested to know how this human child would react to how painful it may be. That would be retribution for not recognizing a high-class tengu—namely, him—at first glance.

"Thanks, bye." Homura walked away, until it occurred to him to ask for the tengu's name so he could find it and repay the debt someday. He turned around with his mouth half-open, but the tengu had already gone, with only a flutter of wings and ashy gray feathers floating downwards being the only remainder of its presence.

* * *

The next morning, Natsume was walking to school, and saw Homura a short distance away in front of him. He was tired; he had returned quite a few names last night and had to put up with Nyanko-sensei's rants about the Yuujinchou getting thinner and thinner and how a big powerful youkai should come already and eat him so he could get his stubby little paws on it. And as usual when Nyanko-sensei was being annoying and him getting annoyed, he punched the cat.

Natsume yawned, and as he did he noticed Homura's bandaged left arm. His mouth was left hanging half-open even after the yawn had ended. _Don't tell me, the youkai? !_

He speed-walked a little faster, shortening the gap between them, and grabbed Homura by the right elbow. Of course, Homura was surprised.

"Homura, what happened to your arm?" he asked.

"Eh? I uh, tripped and scratched it pretty bad against a tree branch," he lied. Homura was used to lying.

"Are you sure you're all right? You're not attacked by anything, are you?"

"A…ttacked… No, if you're talking about dogs like what happened last time, no. I just tripped over a tree root; that's all."

"But—ah." The messy bandage wound loosely—and inexpertly—around Homura's arm came undone, the safety pin having snapped open. The long strip of bandage trailed down to the ground. Homura hurriedly hid his arm with his bag, but Natsume didn't fail to notice the three long red marks after all the hasty fumbling Homura made.

Students walked past them in small numbers, mostly not paying much attention to them.

Natsume sighed as he watched Homura look at the ground with an uneasy expression on his face. He had to ask it.

'_Can you see what normal humans can't?'_

He swallowed; he wouldn't know how to act around Homura if he didn't know the answer. But what if Homura doesn't know what he means? That would be a disaster. He will ask it, but not now. "Come," he said. "I'll redo that for you. It must be hard trying to bandage with one arm, right?"

Homura gladly followed, pleased and also relieved that the other light-haired teen didn't ask anything.

* * *

They had left their bags in their mostly-empty classroom and went to the infirmary, where Natsume pulled out disinfectant, gauze, bandages and a safety pin from the drawer.

Natsume had instructed him to hold his arm out straight so he could put on disinfectant, but Homura was wary of it. He winced at the slightest touch; it hurt so much that it throbbed. The salve the tengu gave him the day before was useless—he had only smeared a little bit at one part and that felt like it was licked by fire. He'd be dead if he smeared it all over his wounds.

Natsume used a cotton bud and dipped it in the disinfectant. He had mixed feelings about this. It was the white, cooling type for minor injuries, but he had no choice since he couldn't find anything else. And he was also worried about the cotton bud. What if the cotton threads sticks to the surface of the wounds? Trying to pull it away would be painful. And besides, Natsume didn't have enough experience to patch up wounds like _this_. If they were minor injuries, he would be fine. Truthfully he would've liked to wait for the infirmary nurse to arrive but just letting Homura be like this would be pretty bad of him. He tried not to let any sign of negative expressions show on his face.

"Homura, tell me if it hurts, okay?" He lightly touched the surface at one unhurt, but still sore, area.

"Ow!"

"I didn't even apply it yet, you know." He noticed Homura clench his fists and bite his lower lip as he started putting o the disinfectant. He had only finished one half of one long mark. There were two and a half left to go. Natsume hoped Homura could put up with this.

"Wait, Natsume," Homura said, and dug in his pocket for something with his right hand, producing a small packet of something powdery. It was the salve the tengu had given him. _Since it's gonna hurt either way anyway, it should be good if I undergo 'excruciating pain' once and get better soon after than having to repeat this process every time._

"What is this?" Natsume asked, inspecting it.

"A salve. Somebody who saw this happen gave it to me yesterday. You're supposed to mix it with water until it becomes a paste."

Homura watched nervously as Natsume mixed it till it became pasty and greenish and smelled of herbs.

"Natsume, I think it'd be better if you put that on me in one go." _Though I don't know how you're going to manage to do so._

"Why?"

"'Cos it freaking hurts."

* * *

"See? That wasn't so bad," Natsume said calmly while cleaning up.

"'Wasn't so bad'? 'Wasn't. So. Bad'?" Homura clutched his newly bandaged arm. Sure, it feels a whole lot better now, but still— _It hurt like hell!_

"You're probably thinking that it hurts like crazy, aren't you?" Natsume said.

"Something along those lines."

"Hmm. Well come on, we'll be late for homeroom."

_I wonder if this is a good time to ask… _thought Natsume as they were walking back to their classroom, passing by chatting students.

"Nee, Homura…"

"What?"

"You…" Natsume stopped. _I can't say it. _"There's something I want to ask you, but… never mind. Let's keep going." He started walking again.

Homura watched Natsume with an expression of curiosity and confusion, as they walked, each in their own private universe.

* * *

_Update roll~! Haha! XD _


	6. Chapter 6

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou _

_Chapter 6 _

_Each Other's Past __お互いの過去 __Otagai no Kako

* * *

_

"U-Uh, Natsume? The thing that you wanted to talk about… Is it important?" Homura asked. They were walking home from school; Nishimura and Kitamoto had to stay back since they were on cleaning duty. To him Natsume seemed as if he was thinking about the unknown matter all day long, one minute looking as if he was going to open his mouth and blurt out whatever he was meaning to say, and in the other looking as if he decided against it.

"A-Ahh… Why, are you busy?"

"Mhmm… I kind of have somewhere to go."

"It's okay," Natsume said offhandedly. "It's nothing important anyway. It can wait till next time."

"Sorry okay?"

Natsume smiled. "I said it's okay! There's nothing to worry about! Except…" He eyed Homura's bandaged arm and at its owner, who had a careless and inattentive—and also innocent—air about him.

Homura laughed sheepishly.

Natsume placed a hand on the reddish-haired boy. "See you tomorrow then. Take care of that arm."

Homura watched Natsume walk away for a few seconds, then jokingly said: "I will, mommy."

"Homura…" He heard Natsume say warningly without turning his head to look in his direction, walking steadily away.

Homura chuckled, and then went to where he met the tengu the day before. He had to thank him for saving his life, after all.

"Tengu?" he called. "Tengu~ Oi, Tengu~!"

The tengu was perched on a branch, lazing in the sun and listlessly staring at the expanse of greenery and the city around him like always, waiting for another boring day to end. And then he heard himself being called by the human boy he had saved yesterday. He yawned and looked downwards. The child was directly under his tree now, calling 'tengu, tengu'. He smirked. He would let that human child make a fool out of himself for a little while longer.

"Tengu~?" Homura sighed. _What am I thinking? Maybe he was just passing by yesterday. _"Ten—"

"Do you think I am earless, oh human?"

Homura turned around, meaning to catch the tengu coming out from his hiding place. But the tengu was already behind him and was folding his wings. "What did you come for?" he asked.

"To thank you," the human said matter-of-factly.

That was unexpected. The tengu thought he had come about the salve. "Thank?" he asked incredulously.

"For saving me. And for the salve, though I hated it."

_Hate? _the tengu thought with amusement clearly written all over his handsome face. "Let me see your arm." Without an early warning he grabbed it and pulled away the bandage.

Homura's jaw dropped when he set his eyes on his arm. At first it was alarm, and fear for the tengu might agitate his already stinging wounds, and then it quickly melted into disbelief. His arm was almost healed. He also realized that it didn't hurt anymore, now that he thought of it.

"So?" The tengu casually threw the strip of bandage over his shoulder. "Still hate it?"

"I honestly think I'm beginning to feel the opposite."

"Well? You've thanked me and your arm is already healed. Why don't you go back to your home already?" In thought the tengu was anticipating the answer: would he go home as suggested, or would he stand his ground, against a high-level youkai like him? That would be marvelous. And not to mention interesting.

"I will."

Disappointment flickered in his eyes, just for a millisecond.

"Just one more question."

New 'hope' filled his eyes. "Say it."

"What's your name?" Homura asked curiously.

Laced with absurdity and 'utter' disbelief, the tengu scoffed. "I have no obligation to leave my name in the hands of a particular human child."

"Then how about a fake name?"

"Tell me, boy. Why are you so interested?"

He looked vague. It was crystal clear he hadn't thought of that. "I don't know. It's just that I feel like you don't hurt other people."

"Other people or other ayakashi?"

"Both… maybe?"

"Hah. I guess that's true," the tengu said, nodding. "And what? Just because I seem nice you're interested in… _befriending _me?"

"But you look like you have too much free time in your hands. Get a life, man. What's the point of having a long lifespan when all you do is sit around and do nothing all day?" he said bluntly.

_If this is another human-eating ayakashi he's talking to… He'd be dead. Literally. Without a doubt. Yep.  
_

"So?" the human said, pulling the gray-haired out from his little train of thought. "How about a fake name? What do other youkai call you?"

"Hm, I have no name to begin with. So which is fake and which is real doesn't matter. But if it soothes your heart any better, I will respond to 'Tengu', for the moment."

* * *

_The next day…_

"Tengu~?" Homura called. This time the tengu responded directly.

"What did you come for this time, child?" he said, leaping down from a branch he was sitting on earlier.

"Nee, I'm sure you haven't eaten yet, right?" Homura held out a big lunchbox. "I brought an extra lunchbox from home."

The tengu cocked his head to the side, smirking. "If it's not to my liking I'll eat you instead, human," he said coyly.

"You won't."

"What makes you so sure?"

"You said you're not in the least interested in eating me."

"Hmph." The tengu turned away and started walking. "Come."

Homura followed him until they arrived at a lake, where they sat down on the grass and started eating.

"So? Is it to your liking?" Homura sked. "I'm pretty good at cooking, you know."

The tengu said nothing, but he was quickly finishing off his share.

* * *

"How does it feel like, seeing what other people can't?" the tengu asked after some time.

Homura hugged his knees closer to his chest, watching the water glitter in the late afternoon sunlight. "… Isolated."

"Then we're the same."

Homura's eyes travelled to the tengu's blue ones. "Why would _you _feel isolated?"

The tengu ignored the human's curious and prying gaze. For some reason he felt like he would be safe with the human—he could tell him anything he liked, pour out his deep-buried feelings. He never interacted much before; perhaps that was why he felt close to him.

"Would you like me to tell you my story? Someone might as well know."

Homura kept his ears alert.

"I am an exile, forever banished from the mountains, where my clan resides. The reason is unknown."

"Why, your sarcasm was too much for your clan members?"

"Do you wish to get eaten?"

"No."

"Then shut up and listen." The tengu paused for a while. "Eighty years earlier I was born to this world. My mother died soon after due to her weak body. My father was killed. My parents are dead before they had the chance to name me; my clan simply referred to me as 'child'. Ten short years later I was exiled. I was still young so I don't really remember much. I've been living alone in Yatsuhara since then. That's about all."

"You're eighty years old?"

"Is that the only thing you can respond to, you despicable human?"

Homura smiled, stretching. "Next is my story then, Tengu."

"Go on."

"I'm sixteen years old."

"You're young. Sixteen years to us pass in the blink of an eye."

"You think? Multiply that by four and I would probably be dead already by then. So, after my parents got a job offer they went overseas, and I was passed from relative to relative."

"They abandoned you for money? That is why I hate humans."

"Well, that might be the case, but I don't think of it that way. Many families thought I was strange, since I came home with injuries, both by youkai and other kids that bully me. I was branded a liar every time too, when I try to defend myself.

"At the last family I went to, I met somebody. He was the only person who was sincerely kind to me. He heard the rumors, no doubt, but still he befriended me. When we were together I didn't feel like we had a wall between us. I really like him. We were always together—at school, after school, eating, singing…"

"Where is he now?"

"I was leading up to that. The answer to that question in easy—he's nowhere. He died."

"How?"

Homura sighed. "It was a youkai. It was meaning to kill me, but he protected me instead. After that, I was told he died. At that time I thought that it was all my fault. If he never met me he would still be in this world, laughing like usual. Those things other people said were all true—I bring misfortune to everybody. I'm cursed. I'm better off dead. So… I killed myself," he said the last part casually, as if it was perfectly normal.

"Are you an idiot? You're perfectly alive and well, aren't you?" the tengu said.

"You're so noisy. I lived, isn't it obvious? After that I didn't want to live with anyone anymore. So I moved here."

"You're such an idiot. Why should you die, just because you're a little bit special? Suicide is just cowardice."

"Tengu…" For a moment Homura thought he was scolding him like how Seiji used to scold him for being too held-back.

"If you really really want to die, you should just go to a powerful ayakashi and let it gobble you up! Don't waste your tasty-smelling blood!"

It appears he wasn't.

* * *

_**I've heard many rumors that Zan Natsume Yuujinchou / the 3**__**rd**__** season of Natsume is going to come out this year! Whooo! I can't wait! Though it will probably be in summer or autumn, or even at the end of the year. And [spoiler] there's gonna be a lot of Tanuma! [squeals] XD **_


	7. Chapter 7

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 7_

_A New Name __新しい名前 __Atarashii Namae_

* * *

"Tengu, shall I give you a name?" Homura asked suddenly a few days after their second meeting. During that period of time both Homura and the blue-eyed tengu had come together as very unlikely companions, talking with each other at their timely rendezvous after classes finish. And during that short period of time Homura got to know that the tengu, for all his superiority and sarcasm, was really all alone. He had lived alone for seventy years and had not even tried to make friends with the other ayakashi in Yatsuhara, except maybe a tiny fist-sized female youkai who was his servant. And that happened only because he had saved her one day and the youkai had been so indebted to him, and he had just let it be.

Truthfully, Homura could not imagine living all alone for seventy years and not being remembered by anybody. And truthfully, for some reason, Homura felt a strange connection between him and the tengu. After all, he must have suffered much to have lived without much communication with anyone else. Homura himself had experienced around twelve years of it, not including his youngest years when people only thought he was a bit imaginative.

Now, back to reality.

"Mind repeating that, human? You want to _name_ me? Do you even know what that implies?" They were at the lake again, Homura sitting down on the grass and the tengu on a tree stump, playing with his beautiful feathers.

Homura made an innocent face, not knowing what the youkai was talking about. Not seeming to care, either. "Honestly, no."

"Are you making that stupid expression to annoy me or do you really not know?"

Homura said nothing, still staring up at the tengu's blue eyes.

He sighed exasperatedly. "If you name me, or take my name, I will be bound to a contract to serve you as my master until my name is returned and my freedom gained. Like hell will I admit _you _as my master. Hmph, I am a high-class youkai, goddamn it, why would I need to be under such a scrawny human as you?"

Homura's smile froze on his face. _I feel so underrated right now, haha~_

"However," the tengu smiled. "you seem to be a very interesting human being, and since I have a _lot _of time in my hands, so be it. Still, a word of caution to this decision—" the tengu instantly looked down on him in a diminishing manner. "—if you give me a sloppy name I will immediately tear your limbs apart and drink your blood and—"

Homura sweat-dropped.

"—but of course, I was just joking, I'm not that cruel to damage your body like that till it was beyond recognition—" the tengu continued, "I would make a wound on your body and suck your blood till you're dry," he finally finished and snickered.

"No worries, I will try and _not _give you a sloppy name so please stop thinking about _eating _me!"

He nodded.

"Hmm~" Homura pulled his knees close to his chest, one arm hugging them and the other toying with the grass around him. "Suzuya… might be nice."

"Why so?"

"No apparent reason," he answered truthfully. "It's just that… that name seems to fit you…?"

"Oh really."

"Mm."

Silence settled in, but it was more comfortable than awkward. Homura had grown accustomed to it long ago. He actually would've preferred it more than empty talk if only he didn't meet the guy that changed him almost completely. Though he admitted that he was even worse than before after that incident, a total emotional train-wreck that had thought of suicide more than he himself could handle. But what could he do; he had nobody to talk to, his parents were overseas and he didn't have the heart to burden them with more unnecessary worry, and his only friend was seven feet under the ground. Nurses and doctors and therapists and counselors meant nothing to him, he just thought of them being annoying and deceitful, with their smiles that are too bright and gestures that were supposed to be sincerely helpful but seemed hesitant and almost scared.

Again, what could he do; he himself was scared at the black hole that was gradually eating him alive from the inside and left the outside a fresh, rotting corpse.

Homura smiled dryly, already lost in his thoughts and shutting the present world away.

Homura was a normal baby to begin with, then suddenly he was given this special gift, and then, everything collapses. Everything gets sucked in. In the end, Homura wondered, will the time come for it to consume him completely and leave an emptiness behind, or will he surrender to insanity first. Either way, he didn't want them. Either way, he was scared. He was scared if he had to look in the mirror one day and see a different person each time. And it wasn't like it hadn't happened before. He would just love to smash the mirror to pieces and reject the change, but since it costs money, he'd rather not.

"What if I was blind…" he muttered.

"What?"

Homura realized his mistake. "Uhh, sorry. I was just talking to myself a bit there."

"What are you talking about being blind?"

"Nothing."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"You're lying. Tell me." The tengu brought one of his wings forward to meet Homura's head.

The human exhaled, silently. He could feel the youkai's eyes boring into him as if they could see his very soul and instantly know that he would try to change the subject and lie.

There was no escaping.

"It's just that… I hate this. I hate having to hide away from things that other people can't even see. Every time I step out of my house, people stare at me. They think I'm strange. Why? I—" Homura's eyes widened. Why was he even telling the tengu this? And besides, he had just managed to stop himself from saying—

"Say it."

Homura clamped his mouth shut. Shook his head.

"Say it, human. You hate us."

Homura's hands balled into tight fists.

He heard a sigh. "Even though I am very curious about your experiences, your feelings, and your pain, but I won't make you spill everything unless you want to yourself. So rest assured. I know. My seventy years alone could never match your sixteen's."

Homura's eyes watered, but he desperately tried to stop them from flowing. He swallowed thickly. "Still, seventy years is—"

"Even so, seventy years is nearly nothing to us youkai. But for _you _humans, you haven't even reached sixty and you're all wrinkled." The tengu folded his wings neatly behind his back and rolled his eyes. "What is your name, human?"

"Ah, Akatsuki Homura."

"Strange name."

"Oi."

"Yoshi. From this day forth my name shall be Suzuya, master of human, Akatsuki Homura—"

"Hey aren't you getting it mixed up?"

"Hmph. I was just joking. I will never admit you as my master nor you me. Nobody needs to be the servant."

"Suzuya…" Homura said, smiling. "Does that mean we're equal—"

"This is more of a master-and-pet relationship!"

"Just like I thought you're screwed up you stinky blue-eyed monster!"

* * *

"You know, Suzuya…" Homura said the next day; his legs crossed under him Indian-style, then lied down on the grass instead.

"What?" Suzuya was picking at his feathers, and plucking out some that he thought were not perfect, torn after getting snagged at branches, and dropping them purposefully on Homura. Sure, plucking out his own feathers hurt a little, but it's not like you'll die.

"Aren't you bored living here all by yourself?"

"You're starting to stick your nose into my business. Hmm."

"I'm just curious. Is that bad?"

"Personally, yes. Why would you care? It's not like you don't experience that. The first time I saw you my first thought was that you looked like you don't have a _soul_. Haa… You looked like you just crawled out of a grave…" Suzuya grinned.

Homura wanted to retort, but he suddenly lost his ability to think of any words bad enough.

Plus, he overlooked the fact that Suzuya didn't answer his question at all.

* * *

"Natsume, good morning," Homura said when he saw him the next morning. He hooked his school bag on the side of his table and brought his chair closer to him. "Why didn't you come yesterday?"

"Homura, morning. Ahaha, I was feeling a little dizzy. Touko-san told me not to come."

It was a lie. He didn't feel dizzy yesterday; he was just tired from having to deal with another youkai case.

"Who's Touko-san? Your mom? Eh~ You call your mom by name? How interesting."

Natsume sweat-dropped. "It's not that. Touko-san and Shigeru-san are my relatives. I'm currently living with them."

"Oh, I get it. Ah, I just remembered. You see, we just got our notebooks back, and the teacher wants us to do notes on the new chapter. I got yours for you, I hope you don't mind. Wait a sec…" Homura leaned sideways so he could reach for his bag without getting up, then rummaged through it, searching for Natsume's notebook. "…Huh?" He rummaged through it some more, then spilled out all of its contents onto a very surprised yet amused Natsume's table.

"History, Chemistry, Physics, English, Literature… Uhh… Natsume?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry. I think I put them on my table… I guess I forgot to pack them this morning…" Homura directed his gaze downwards. _Ahhh stupid! Idiot! How could you forget somebody's book when we're supposed to—_

Natsume smiled. "Don't worry about it. You can just bring it tomorrow. When do we have to pass it up?"

"Uuuu… Tomorrow~" Homura wailed.

"Gehh? ! Tomorrow? !"

The transfer student nodded sadly. "What do we do now… Ah, Natsume, how about you follow me home after school? Then you can do it at home and be excused from the horrible moments of detention!"

* * *

"Uwaah~ So you live in an apartment, Homura…" Natsume mused, looking around. It was a modest residential area; the apartment blocks didn't look too shabby nor too fancy.

"Well, I live alone. Living in a normal one-or-two-storey house has much cleaning to take care of… Plus, at least we have security in here. So it's pretty safe."

They stepped out of the lift when they reached the fourth floor, and Homura started to lead the way. When they arrived at his corner lot apartment however, he froze. There was a letter on the ground. No address, just the name Akatsuki scrawled over the envelope messily. He picked it up, Natsume peeking to see what Homura was fussing about. He did notice the way Homura's body suddenly grew stiff and the way his cheerful gait had dissipated instantly and also the way his knuckles turned white from gripping the unsigned letter in one hand and the house key in the other.

Homura didn't even bother to invite Natsume in. He just stalked in, kicked off his shoes, dumped his bag in a corner and went straight to the kitchen where he ripped the thick envelope open and scan through its contents.

Natsume took off his shoes, trying to act calm. Homura was behaving very strangely. It must have something to do with the letter, but as much as he would like to know, he had no qualification to peek at somebody else's mail, even if it seemed suspicious.

Homura gritted his teeth as he read the words on each page, each scrawled angrily and was purposefully big-sized, as though the words were all emphasized.

_Killer. Coward. You killed Seiji. Rot in hell. _And many other things Homura didn't want to acknowledge. A sudden burst of adrenaline, hate and rage exploded within him. It was as if he forgot Natsume was there, standing by the dining table.

He took a knife. Right then he completely forgot about what he had done with knives. He was just too… occupied to care. He began stabbing at the pages, cursing in rhythm with each stab.

"Who's the killer? Who should rot in hell, you bastards? Fuck you! Fuck you all! I wish you would all just get crushed under a truck and get your fucking entrails dragged the whole length of the road! Die! Die! Die! Who's the real bad guy? You guys fucking tried to _burn_ me, bastards! Shitshitshit—"

"Homura! Homura, calm down! Homura!" Natsume had grabbed him from behind, trying to stop him before something happens.

"Ku…" Homura continued gritting his teeth, breathing heavily through his nose, his body shaking, his hands shaking, his mind a mess. He dropped the knife in the sink immediately with a clang as soon as he realized what he was doing.

Nobody said anything the first few moments. Natsume wanted to give his new friend time to calm down, which seemed like a very hard task to do with him in this state. "Calm down…" he said.

Homura nodded shakily, eyes locked on the sheave of papers under his palm, the one on top reading 'nutcracker'. They had done it, no doubt about it. The guys from his former school. Must either once used to be Seiji's friends or his loathers. Either way he desperately tried to calm down, tried to breathe normally, in, out, in, out.

"Have you calmed down?" Natsume asked, gently nudging his palm out of the way and taking the papers and dumping them in the trash. "I'm guessing you didn't like that letter. Need something to drink? Cold water?"

Without the cursed papers under his palm he gripped the countertop, feeling how comfortable the cool tiles were against his hot, burning skin. He distinctly heard Natsume opening and closing the fridge, then heard the sound of water filling up a glass, and gladly took it when Natsume offered it to him.

"Thanks," he said, before drinking the wonderfully cold water in one gulp. "And sorry about just now. I scared you, didn't I…? Want some tea?"

"Hm, no need. I gotta go home and finish this as soon as possible," Natsume said, holding up his notebook where he'd found on a coffee table on the way inside.

"Oh, okay then. Sorry this had to happen, I just…" he sighed. "I don't know what went over me…"

"It's okay. You have your reasons. See you tomorrow, Homura."

"Em."

* * *

On his way back Natsume thought about Homura. How he acted when he saw that letter. What he _did _to the letter. Sure, he had caught a few evil words, but surely that wouldn't have enticed such a… twisted way of reacting… He knew there was something about Homura that would change what he thought of him completely if he knew the things hidden behind his sheepish smiles and seemingly-attempted simplicity.

He felt like there was a lot Homura wanted to hide, wanted to conceal from the world around him, as if by shutting it far away in the depths of his soul would make it nonexistent.

What Homura _didn't _know, however was how doing it just made Natsume guiltily want to know everything, in his way of wanting to help everyone he comes across.

* * *

_**Eh… Sorry it's been a long while. I have an important exam this year in two months and the trial in two weeks. So basically I gotta study a lot since… I've been doing nothing except draw and write and translate and watching new anime… Huhh… Out of 8 subjects I can only be confident about two so yeah, I'm in a crisis… I'll be able to update more regularly after this so I hope you guys will be patient… ^_^ **_


	8. Chapter 8

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 8_

_Soon, The Truth  
_

* * *

"Homura!" Seiji cried out happily as he turned around to look at him, smiling. "Come on, you slowpoke!"

"Homura…" A bloodied version of the brown-haired teen said smiling, reaching out a hand. He touched his face, ran his fingers along his cheek, traced them against his lips; he could taste the blood faintly after licking them.

Homura woke up with a non-too-friendly start, cold sweat dampening his hair and nightclothes slightly, making him feel uncomfortable. His phone was ringing and vibrating away somewhere. He picked it up from the floor, taking a few seconds to fish around. It wasn't until he covered his eyes with his arm that he found out he was crying a little.

He sniffed, wiping the tears away. His other hand snaked its way to his stomach, touching the pale scar he knew no amount of surgery could ever hide. At least, according to him. He wasn't thinking right, they'd said. It was the trauma, the drugs, the shock, his death. It wasn't his fault. Then…

Whose fault was it? The people who made their mark on his body? His parents? Seiji, maybe? He was, after all, the one who had stuck his nose in his business once upon a time.

He sat up. Saw how his right pant leg had ridden up to his knee. Saw the patch of redness. It wasn't mosquito bites. Hell, it wasn't. It was from when he had gone into the toilet and they had drenched him with what he thought was soapy water from outside the cubicle. He quickly realized it was kerosene when he'd heard the snickers and couldn't open the door.

A burning scrap was thrown over the door. He stifled a scream as flames licked at his leg. They had already gone by then. That was when Seiji had broken through the door, showered him with clear water and hauled him off to the infirmary.

The impetuous bastard had gotten into a fight soon afterwards.

Homura sighed.

"_I wish you would all just get crushed under a truck and get your fucking entrails dragged the whole length of the road!"_

Sigh. Fire. Seiji. The letter. Knife. Cold water. Natsume.

Questions.

He hated questions.

* * *

The look of utter surprise on Homura's face when he saw Natsume waiting for him near his apartment entrance came to Natsume as amusingly funny. Incredibly, amusingly, funny.

"N-N-Natsume," the latter stuttered.

"Mornin' Homura," he said with a smile on his face.

"W-Why?"

"Mm? Just thought it'd be nice to go to school together." In truth, he was worried about Homura, though he didn't say anything of the sort.

They walked on in silence for a while, both not knowing quite how to break it.

"So…," Natsume started. "About the notes yesterday, I was just wondering whether you took a lot of time to finish it."

"Eh?"

"I couldn't quite find any interesting and important points to write down, and in the end I just reread the whole chapter and wrote pretty much nonsense." Natsume laughed.

"Well, if you look properly, there _are _some points; it's just that you can't really find the words to express them. I run into that sort of problems a lot," Homura said.

"Oh really? Well, looks like I'd have to rely on Homura-sensei to teach me from now on." The grandson of Natsume Reiko smiled. "Hey, ever heard of Nanatsujiya?"

"No. What's that?"

"It's a shop where they sell good treats, and I like the bean buns there. I'll take you there after school. Oh, and if I'm not mistaken Nishimura was going to ask us all on a ramen tour, maybe tomorrow. You come along, too."

Homura looked at the ground as they walked. "Are you really sure? Is it really okay to invite someone like me on one of your outings? I mean, they're your friends, there's no particular need to include me in just because the teacher asked you guys to look after me."

_Like I thought, he's someone just like me. _"What do you mean? Of course it's okay, we wouldn't be counting you in if we didn't like you in the first place, regardless of what responsibility the teacher left us with. Nee, Homura, I was a new kid here too a little time before you came here. That time I was mostly alone 'cos I didn't really know how to mix in with everybody, but eventually I hung out with Kitamoto and Nishimura and I got to know Tanuma and Taki too. So there are friends waiting for you anywhere you go. You just have to open yourself up and get to know them."

_If I can open myself up and get to know them… Of course I could do that but it's still not given that they would be able to get to know me before they run away from me. If only you would understand. _

_If only you would understand that no matter how hard I try I end up pulling everybody's legs and drag them in on my curse. I won't ever be able to get to know light, just as much you won't ever be able to get to know the deepest darkness your own heart could handle, Natsume. _

_Even so, even so I want to try making friends. At least just one. At least just enough so that my heart won't hurt anymore and I don't get any stupid ideas. I want to try and laugh just like any other normal teenager too. _

"So?"

Homura broke out of his momentary trance. "W-What?"

"Wanna go to Nanatsujiya after school?"

"… Yeah."

* * *

"Natsume! Homura! Wanna go to the arcade with us?" Nishimura asked.

"Sorry, we're off somewhere on our own," Natsume said.

The clown of the group pouted. "Ceh. Fine then, bye~ Let's go Kitamoto!"

Homura zipped up his bag and turned to Natsume. "Is it really okay to turn them down? I mean, I can try to find out Nanatsujiya on my own, or if I can't, we can just go next—"

"Oh, they'll be okay. If Kitamoto's around you can count on him, just not so much on Nishimura…" Natsume checked on the Yuujinchou and zipped up his bag too. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Suzuya hummed questioningly as he awakened from a light slumber. He blinked his eyes open. Something had disturbed him. He yawned and sat up straight, dangling his feet under the tree branch he was on.

He sniffed the air. Nothing. He cocked his head to the side, wondering.

"Master, master!"

He turned to the direction of the voice. The palm-sized female youkai, wearing a pink kimono with light unruly hair adorned with flowers sat perched on a bird's back.

"Oh, Rie." Suzuya held out his forefinger for her to hang on to and plopped her on his lap. He stared at the bird that seemed to be waiting for something. "What kind of creature have you brought this time?"

The little youkai produced a pouch from her kimono, and gave some berries to the bird, which then flew away. "No master, it's just a ride." She proffered him a few handfuls of her berries. He accepted the little gift, holding out his palm as she scooped them from her pouch.

The tengu could tell she intended to give him all of them, and his fingers curled around what he already had in his palm. "Save some for yourself, Rie." He then popped them into his mouth, savoring the sweet taste. "What have you come for?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to see if I could be of assistance."

"No, I don't have any problems but Rie,"

"Yes, master?"

"Recently I met a human," he said, a little too bluntly.

"A human?" she squeaked. "Master, I have told you so many times not to mingle with those people, as much as I have told you about—"

"This one's different. He can see."

Rie stayed silent for a while. "… Does master feel uncomfortable with his presence? Do you want me to ask my friends to investigate him?"

"No, you needn't. He's a good person. He also gave me a name."

At this Suzuya's servant's mouth gaped open. "_Master!_"

Suzuya shrugged. "I needed to pass time. By the way, my name is Suzuya now."

"It fits you." He nodded. "Do you want me to call you 'Suzuya-sama' or 'master'?"

"Whatever you like."

After a few moments of silence, Suzuya said:"Rie, do you sense something? It's been disturbing me for a while now."

"Ah, maybe it's the youkai. It's come again. They tell me it has eaten some of the others already."

_The one that injured Homura?_

"Come on, we're going for a walk," he said as he settled his little servant on his shoulder and spread his wings.

* * *

"—and they fought over it like… Homura?"

"Huh?" Said teen looked up guiltily. He wasn't really paying attention to Natsume. For some reason, since they'd walked into the forest his arm hurt, where he was clawed by the youkai before. No scars were there last he looked.

"Are you okay? You look kind of pale," Natsume said worriedly.

"No… I'm fine. Where's Nanatsujiya?"

"Just a little farther up there… Homura, are you really okay?" Homura had slowed down, gripped his shoulder, and his face had scrunched up in pain.

"I—I'm fine. Really… Ahh!" He fell to his knees, gasping.

At the same time there was a strong gust of wind, and there it was. Longish body, face partly hidden by long messy hair, sharp claws.

Both panicked as both thought the other could not see it.

"Human child, you did a good job venturing into this forest by yourself. It saved me time," it said, grinning.

Natsume's grip on Homura's shoulder stiffened. Nyanko-sensei wasn't with them and running seemed out of the question as it didn't look like Homura could run.

Another strong gust of wind came and hit the youkai full on as it started walking towards the humans. It provided just a few seconds of confusion. It was enough.

Suzuya dropped out of the sky and landed on the youkai's head, then hopped to the ground.

"Youkai, too bad for you. The human's mine—" Suzuya broke off when the youkai charged past him. He knew what it was going to do, and he tried to stop it, but it was too late. It had already pushed the wimpy-looking brown-haired human away and disappeared into Homura's body.

"Homura!" both Natsume and Suzuya cried out and rushed to his side. He was unconscious.

"Hey you! Get that youkai out of his body!" Natsume said as he caught hold of the tengu's arm.

"…Wait, you can see me?" Suzuya asked incredulously.

"So? Just tell me what the youkai is gonna do!"

"What is your name, boy?" the youkai in front of him asked, ignoring him completely.

"Natsume," was the impatient reply.

"Homura didn't tell me anything about you."

"Homura _what_? You mean—" Natsume looked down on the sleeping boy. _So he—_

* * *

_**Yaay~~ Finally I uploaded another chapter~~ Exams are over now, so I have more time in my hands~~**  
_


	9. Chapter 9

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou  
_

_Chapter 9_

_Possession Is Not Something To Be Toyed With_

* * *

"_I'll devour you… I'll definitely devour you!" _

"Uwaah!" Homura woke up with a start, a cry escaping his lips as he threw off the covers frantically. It wasn't until his eyes adjusted to the late afternoon glow that he realized he was somehow in a futon. Again.

He looked around, then down at himself. Not to mention, he was in somebody else's pajamas too. The only thing _not _ordinary in that fairly ordinary room was that there was a pillow right next to his, even though the person who had been lying on top of it earlier had already gone by then.

_Who… have I been sleeping with?_

He heard some voices downstairs, and panicked. He didn't even want to know how he knew he was in the second floor of a two-storey house, but he just did so there was no point in pursuing the subject any further. He was on his feet in an instant, and bolted out into the hallway and down the stairs, feet slapping against the mixture of cement—or was it woodwork? Or maybe even parquet? He didn't notice. He knew he was being clumsy and though he didn't want to fall embarrassingly down the stairs of a stranger's house, he'd rather be given the chance to run away than getting himself caught and questioned.

He had almost reached the front door and was just about to jump into his shoes when he felt fingers dig into his collar and pull, stopping him just paces away from freedom.

"And where do you think _you're _going?"

"Natsume!" Homura stopped struggling once he saw that it was Natsume who'd restrained him.

Natsume sighed as he let go of his newly-acquired friend. "You know, didn't it ever occur to you that just running away like that—in _my _pajamas, for that matter—would worry the people who'd went through a lot of trouble to haul your butt here all the way from the forest?" he said in a joking manner, but the tone didn't make a connection with Homura as it should have.

Right then and there Homura felt like a total and complete idiot.

He averted his gaze and fixated it on the ground as he watched his feet shuffle uncomfortably. The feeling of Natsume's pajamas clinging onto him just fine didn't make it any better. He knew they were about the same size, though he was taller than Natsume by about two to three centimeters. But he was feeling really small then, his back slumped and looking disheveled, wearing pajamas even though it isn't even nightfall yet when Natsume was wearing normal everyday clothes.

"I'm sorry," he started shakily. "I didn't know this was your house, although I should have, seeing as how I ended up here last time too. Plus, I ran away that time too…"

"Hey, hey, I was just joking. It wasn't much trouble. Suzuya helped carry you most of the way," Natsume said, ruffling his hair.

Homura nodded sheepishly, still a bit embarrassed. Something came to his mind suddenly, as if there was this tiny little detail he should have noticed but didn't. He spent a few seconds thinking about it.

"Ehhh Suzuya? You can see—mmphgf" His 'little' outburst was hurriedly muffled by Natsume's hands as he dragged them some way further than the kitchen where Touko-san might hear. "Shhh. Watch what you're saying, sheesh…"

"I-I'm sorry but… Ehh… Suzuya… You can actually see Suzuya! I didn't know that you can see youkai!"

"Well, of course you don't, I made sure to hide this fact from everybody else—though _some _people still found out anyways—and you wouldn't just announce that you can see what other people can't in public, do you? And I just found out you can see too when Suzuya mentioned you… By the way, how do you feel? Is your arm alright now? Are you feeling light-headed or weird or something?"

Homura's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Why? Was that why I fainted?"

"You mean you don't remember? That scary youkai pushed me aside and possessed you. And it wouldn't come out. Suzuya already tried. I'll ask Nyanko-sensei to see to you later."

"Oh… I don't feel any changes, but I guess I'm a little fuzzy. My body feels heavy to move around in. Kind of feels like when you're having a really bad fever. And wait, 'Nyanko-sensei'?"

"Takashi-kun~ Come here and have dinner~" Touko's voice floated to their ears from the kitchen. There was the sound of chairs scraping against the floor too.

"Okay~" Natsume replied. "Look, I'll explain everything later. For now all you need to know is that you're possessed, we still don't know what that thing will do to you, and you're spending the night here, I'm not going to let you out of my sight."

Homura blushed at that as he followed Natsume. "But we have school tomorrow," he said quietly.

"Touko-san had already washed your uniform earlier, and if it doesn't dry by the time we're going to sleep, I'm going to hang it in my room. It'll dry by tomorrow. Then you'd just have to iron it before we leave. As for schoolbooks, don't worry about it. We don't have any scary teachers tomorrow, so we'll just share mine." Natsume turned around and gave a wink, and then they arrived at the kitchen of the Fujiwara household.

Homura paused at the doorway, not sure whether this is all okay. _I mean, I'm a total stranger, and I'm going to spend the night at my friend's whom I haven't known for very long. And it seems as if his foster family is completely okay with it. _

He looked in at the warm homey kitchen, and that loving family feeling bugged him a little. For a guy whose parents are always involved with work and are overseas as we speak, whose relatives don't treat him nothing much, and who doesn't even have friends until very recently, it was all…

It just made him realize that he might be the loneliest person on the planet.

His fingers twitched. He swallowed, and plastered a big fake smile on his face he hoped nobody would notice.

"I-I'm sorry, but I think I'll just head on home. I… have some food left over, and I'm afraid it'll go bad before I get to eat it, heh. I'm sorry to have troubled you so much, thank you for your kindness and hospitality. A-And I don't really mind going back in just pajamas, nobody will see anyway, it's getting dark. I'll wash it properly before returning it. Now I'll just go ahead and take my bag and leave. Good night."

He turned immediately before anybody could stop him, and ran towards the front door once again, only to have bumped into somebody else. It was a man, and it very well looked to be Touko-san's husband.

"Hmm? Are you Takashi-kun's friend?" Shigeru was surprised, yes, but this young man seemed to be—

"Homura!" Natsume caught up and took hold of said teen's hand. "I told you, it's okay! What's wrong with you?"

Homura sighed inwardly. _It's all over now. I hate this so much._

"Um, Homura-kun, is it?" Touko-san wiped her hands on her apron as she approached them all. "It really isn't much trouble at all, besides, Takashi-kun said you're sick, and that you live alone. I may be poking my nose into people's affairs but I just can't leave a boy like you alone and sick. Let me at least treat you to dinner tonight, okay? We'll see how you're doing tomorrow before deciding on calling a doctor, if you want."

He turned to look into the older woman's eyes. There was nothing but kindness and concern in those dark brown pools.

_Please don't do this. If you do this to me I'll just get my hopes up and I'll only end up hurting you in the end, and—_

"…Okay. Thank you very much."

* * *

It was altogether very overwhelming.

Having dinner with the kind of family he always wanted. With everybody chatting about the day's events. Laughing. Smiling. To be able to actually eat food that was cooked by somebody else sincerely, and not have it placed in front of him with badly-hidden unwillingness, or thrown together sloppily, or just convenience-store-bought or instant ones.

To be able to eat with people he liked once again.

Homura lay in the futon Natsume had laid out for him, with the brown-haired teen lying sleeping soundly right next alongside, staring above at the ceiling.

Earlier Natsume had told him about what happened, and about how that pig-sized raccoon-faced cat was actually his youkai bodyguard. He had gotten a little worried, and had voiced it out, but Natsume seemed to trust the creature, so he decided to let be for the time being. Said creature was now gone; Homura had noticed the door open quietly minutes before. According to Natsume it had a bad drinking habit.

Homura didn't know cats could drink sake and eat squid like a gourmet. Or talk like a geezer. Or pounce on him and bite his head like that. He guessed it was for the better if he kept his mouth shut about any more complaints of the furry little animal.

He instinctively touched his arm as he thought about youkai and Suzuya. If that youkai really had possessed him, why didn't he feel anything weird? All he felt was a dull throbbing in the back of his head, nothing else. He sure didn't feel anything alien in his body. Nor did it show any signs of taking over his body and do weird stuff.

Sooner or later Homura couldn't think anymore, and his eyes slowly slipped closed as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

About fifty minutes later Natsume slowly woke up from his slumber, lying in his futon and blinking sleepily. Something had woke him, but he didn't know what it is. He raised his eyes and squinted to see if there were any suspicious shadows outside his bedroom window; after all, it could be some time-insensitive youkai waiting out there to get their names back. But no, there were none.

He sighed as he turned and propped himself up on one elbow, intending to check on Homura, and got the answer to his waking-up problem.

Homura was sitting, a little hunched, but perfectly still. It almost seemed as if he was a marionette, waiting for his strings to be pulled so he could move around. In a sense, he _was_.

Natsume rubbed his eyes as he called his name softly. Maybe he was just sleep… sitting…? There wasn't an answer, so he sat up himself and peered under those thick dark bangs.

His eyes widened. They were _not _in any way Homura's eyes. Those dull empty black orbs looked as if they belonged to a demon. _Oh no, his body's taken over? Nyanko-sensei! _Natsume turned around quickly to where the cat had been dozing off the last time he'd seen it, but the creature was nowhere to be seen. _Damn, he's out drinking again?_

"Homura, Homura!" He shook the teen, trying to get him out of his trancelike state. But he slapped his hand away after a few shakes and stared at him in the eye.

Natsume froze. The gaze that held his was intense, and told him that he'd be dead meat if he tried anything reckless. Suddenly, the possessed Homura turned towards the door, and as it was opening to reveal a nonchalant Nyanko-sensei the youkai vanished back into the human's body and Homura's eyes shut as he flopped onto Natsume, unaware of what happened and back in his dream world.

"Hey~ What happened, Natsume?" The cat said as it padded its way to the two humans.

"Nyanko-sensei! Where have you been! That youkai was taking over his body when you were gone!" Natsume hissed angrily.

"There's no need for worry. It doesn't seem to be harming him, or show any signs of talking…yet."

* * *

The next day after a hearty breakfast and a noticeable extra lunchbox for Homura, he and Natsume started off to school, with Nyanko-sensei sauntering alongside on his little feet. At first Touko-san was adamant about Homura attending school, seeing as how he was still 'sick', after all, you don't just haul somebody home with you, someone who's unconscious. She insisted that they go see a doctor, and that he needn't worry about the payment since he's a guest, but friends take after your personality—or was it the other way around?—she guessed. Like Takashi, he was being stubborn and shy and grateful at the same time, making up excuses that would've won him a debate championship, but he really did seem fine so she let him go. Not before putting a word in with Natsume about the precautions they'd have to take, that is.

Homura shifted his bag and the lunchbox Touko-san had given him to his right hand as he raised his left arm to eye-level, inspecting it. His eyes widened when he saw that where the wounds should have already healed and the scars gone, there was some kind of a mark on him. It looked as if it was drawn on him with ink.

"Natsume?"

"Yeah?"

"Look at this. Can you see it?" Homura showed him the mark when they stopped.

Natsume frowned. "Did the youkai leave that on your skin?" He tried wiping it with his thumb, but unfortunately the mark didn't smudge. So it wasn't ink. But it wasn't exactly like a tattoo either. And they weren't sure whether a mark like this could be seen by normal humans, if it could then they'd have to get to the infirmary as quickly as they can and get it bandaged somehow so others won't see and ask about it.

Homura nodded. "I think so."

"No need for assumptions, it would just get you nowhere. As for that mark, it's made by a youkai so it can't be seen by normal humans, so no need for additional worry," Suzuya said as he suddenly flew down and landed in front of them. He folded his wings and there was a luminescent blue light surrounding him, and when it faded away it revealed a gray-haired, blue-eyed _human-looking_ male of about eighteen. What's more, he had on casual clothes and looked like any other normal human, other than the obvious distinctive hair and eye colors. He had on a typical blue T-shirt and jeans. Even if he had a laid-back expression it didn't cease to make the humans' eyes widen disbelievingly and the cat's ears to perk up with interest.

"Suzuya… you, what, how…?" Homura stammered. In truth, it amused Suzuya to no end, watching the humans' bewildered expressions and apparent loss of voice.

"I told you before, right? I'm a high-class youkai. Even I could look human at times too. Hmph, not like the little piggy kitty over there, if _he _transforms I'd bet it'd be a big fat old geezer with a protruding belly." He looked away as the cat positively seethed with anger.

"Oi! This is not my original form, tengu! I could eat the likes of you in seconds, you hear me?" Nyanko-sensei raged, paw flailing around in the air.

Suzuya shook his head, disregarding the infuriated kitty. "As I've said, assumption means nothing. With the existence of that mark, it would seem that the youkai inside of you had already begun to make you 'his'. Remember the last time it hurt you?"

"Why should I forget about that, it hurt like crazy," Homura muttered under his breath, and started walking to school again. Sure, they still had lots of time since Natsume had originally intended for them to talk things out on the way, but if they linger too long they're bound to get left behind.

Suzuya fell into step beside Homura, staring straight at his eyes, not minding the road ahead. He didn't need to worry about rocks tripping him up right then—it was unimportant. Natsume was at his other side, holding Nyanko-sensei comfortably in his arms.

"Well, I think that time it intended to leave you with a mark it made, somewhat as proof that you've fallen victim to it before. And with that, it channeled to you a curse of sorts."

"A _curse?_" Natsume echoed. They really couldn't handle with curses at the moment. No, not ever. If it meant having to get rid of the youkai he'd have to get in touch with Natori or Hiiragi, not that he minded, but he didn't want to trouble the young actor. Plus, somewhere along the way Matoba-san would hear snippets of this. He'd know there was another youngster with the ability to see.

"Yep. Through it it could gain control over your body and lead you to it, or the other way around, and possess you. For what, I don't know, but this is a youkai powerful enough to devour the other scrawny youkai and also, it wouldn't get out of your body, so I'm deeming its requests to be bad news. We have to be very careful about this one, if it has too much dark energy in it it'll suck out your life force and take over your mind eventually, and once it gets through every obstacle, every shred of humanity you have left is pretty much doomed."

Homura smiled forcefully. "I really wish you'd stop being that blunt and scare the hell out of me."

Suzuya shook his head, smiling too. "No, you're the blunt one here. Anyways, I'll ask around while you're at school. And if we can't find something you may have to call an exorcist. It could get dangerous."

"Wait," Nyanko-sensei said. "Why are you so interested in saving the human, tengu? I don't see how you're required to lend him a hand."

Suzuya narrowed his eyes as he gave the cat an unpleasant sidelong look. "Stay out of my business, beast." Then his features softened as he shrugged. "Well, in a sense I _am _required to help him, he was the one who named me, so as much as I hate to admit, he kinds of have this power over me."

"But why? You could just break his neck and swallow him."

"I've thought of that, yes, but it's an interesting turn of events in my otherwise very bore-filled days. So I've decided to tag along with you humans until you shrivel, that is, in the near future."

The two high-schoolers flinched and felt their insides bubbling at the choice of topic.

Nyanko-sensei huffed and adjusted himself in Natsume's arms. "Well, if it's a human exorcist you want, we know of two, but it's better if we just stick to one."

Homura turned to look at Natsume. "Really? You know someone like that?"

"Y-Yeah… How I knew them was more of a coincidence, really…"

Homura cocked his head to the side as he mused about the apparent graveness of his situation. Sure, he would die one day but he didn't want his body to be invaded by something when he did.

Suzuya raised an eyebrow as he stared at the human, amused. Natsume, too, was looking at him funny.

"You seem relaxed for someone who's possessed and is in danger of having to obey its requests or get eaten," the human-form-taking tengu remarked.

Homura just shrugged as he focused on the school they were getting nearer to.

_That's because I can put up with my situation right now compared to the events I've been pushed to accept._

_Getting burned…_

_Excessive bullying…_

_Fighting…_

_Almost dead because of blood loss in that 'accident' that involved an avalanche of stones…_

_The death of the only person capable of changing him… And at such a young age…_

Homura closed his eyes for a moment, reliving all those memories within him. As usual, 'that day' was a huge blow to his chest, so he stopped before he could go any further.

_Getting possessed is no big deal. As long as the damned youkai in me makes no ridiculous requests, I'll do it. I don't care whether it's threatening me by making me hang on to a thread only to have it cut off, if I don't want to do it, I won't. After all, Suzuya and Natsume are by my side to help me._

_Because I'd been dumped near Death's doorstep so many times now._

* * *

Unknown to the two humans, the cat and the human-looking tengu had been sharing a secret conversation.

'_I've never seen you around here before, much less heard of you.'_

Suzuya smiled as he kept on walking, the building called 'school' human youngsters go to getting nearer by the second.

'_I'm not that interested of others. Nor are they interested in me. I just tend to stay huddled in some tree.'_

'_Is that why you decided to get caught up in all this human mess? Getting involved isn't always a good thing.'_

'_I'm just passing time. Besides, humans are the most interesting beings on this planet. All the different kinds of reactions they make…so amusing.'_

'… _You seem to be wound up tighter than I thought.'_

'_Hahah, anybody that's been alone for any amount of time would come to terms with that sooner or later.'_

'_Meet up with me later. I still don't trust you. If you're after the Yuujinchou, I'll snap your wings and pull out your feathers one by one.'_

'… _Yuujinchou? What's that?'_

'… _Uh-oh.' _Nyanko-sensei sweat-dropped as he thought about the way he had just easily mentioned the Yuujinchou.

Natsume will lock him up in the bathroom for a week if he hears about this.

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~**_

_**And so, we're finally catching up to the plot. I actually have a number of youkai-related events involving Natsume, Homura, Tanuma and Taki, but, seeing as how I failed to fit this possessing-youkai event in two-three chapters, I think Phantasmagoria will either have a lot of chapters, or I'll make a sequel when I make an abrupt ending/cliffhanger. We'll see, I guess. If there's a lot of people asking for it, I'll probably continue on with my ideas/make a sequel, but if not, I'll just cancel some of the events and get on to the real ending.**_

_**So tell me what you think, 'cuz I'm not so sure if this story is that popular to deserve such a lot of chapters/sequel. **_

_**Oh, and before I forget, one more thing. This is pretty important so please take note of this.**_

_**I'm fully aware that in their second year Natsume and Nishimura and Sasada are in one class, Tanuma and Kitamoto in one and Taki in another, but since I've already made it so Natsume, Nishimura, Kitamoto, Sasada, as well as Homura are in one class and Tanuma and Taki in the same class, let's just leave it that way 'cuz I can't really find a way to edit that part… ^_^**_

_**And since I'm writing this now instead of waiting for the 4**__**th**__** season of Natsume Yuujinchou next January, I guess I'll just edit the events from there or insert them in the storyline randomly, or even unknowingly… Argh, I really should have waited until the whole series ends until I write this fanfic, don't I? =u= I have to make sure not to totally copy Midorikawa Yuki's ideas exactly, too… **_

_**Oh, and if you readers have an interesting event to share, you can always review or PM me! Who knows, maybe I can elaborate on that… **_


	10. Chapter 10

_**OuO... I sure update quickly these days... **_

* * *

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 10_

_Music, Is An Art, To the Dead, and To the Living_

* * *

Natsume twirled his pencil around as he stared at the blackboard as the teacher was explaining stuff, bored. Sooner or later his thoughts had directed to Suzuya. To be honest, Suzuya might be the most peculiar youkai he had ever met, other than Nyanko-sensei. He's a powerful, high-class tengu, but nobody knows about him. And he knows nobody. It's almost as if he was always a lingering shadow, properly living in this world but nonexistent to others. And that reclusive youkai spontaneously decided to hang out with a human, but just to pass time…? Natsume didn't think so. He had a high suspicion that the tengu had a huge ego not to express what he really felt, but saying so just complicates things. He guessed that the simplest way of elucidating him would be 'not completely honest to himself'.

And there was this little issue of not letting him help Homura change, too. The day before when they'd encountered the youkai possessing him, Suzuya had carried the unconscious teen for most of the way, only handing him to Natsume when they were in the vicinity of the Fujiwara house. Then he'd flown up to Natsume's window, waiting patiently as Touko fussed around, and when she'd gotten out to prepare dinner and clean up a little and Natsume was going to change Homura's clothes, he had barged in and told Natsume to get out, making an excuse that he had to check on him once again.

He had a hunch those two aren't telling him something. But he guessed that they would tell him when the time comes. He himself hadn't been telling everything to everybody. Plus, he still didn't know if he should keep the Yuujinchou's existence a secret. After all, Homura can fully see youkai like he does, shouldn't he know? Natsume shook his head. No, he'd tell him sooner or later, but not now. He didn't want him to get any more worried than he already is. Homura still had to keep his feelings in check, and his inner thoughts, too, as Suzuya had advised. He said it was probable that the youkai might invade and try to take over.

_But for now_, Natsume thought as he glanced sideways at Homura, who was currently doodling in his notebook again, and also saw Nishimura already dozing off from the corner of his eye, _he seems okay. However like Suzuya said, we can't just assume…_

* * *

"So, what do you want to know about me so much? Isn't it better to just have minimum necessary knowledge of each other? And what did you mean by 'Yuujinchou', earlier?" Suzuya asked as he leaned against a tree, facing the cat.

Suddenly, there was a poof of smoke, and Suzuya covered his eyes, but when he was just about to ask what had happened and open his eyes again, he was pushed by this immense power and lay dazed on the ground for a second.

_So… The cat is not to be underestimated like I thought… _Suzuya stared up at the beast above him without any hint of being intimidated. However, he would like to voice out that the paw pressing him against the ground was disturbing his breathing abilities a little.

"Tell me. What is your real motive?" Madara growled.

"What do you mean? All I want to do right now is hang around Homura. I have no interest in _your _human."

"You have something you're hiding, don't you?"

"If I do have something to hide, what does that have got to do with you, you filthy beast?" Suzuya hissed. He has never liked beasts. But now this one irritated him to no end, acting all superior while in actuality it was just a little piggy kitty. "Now get off of me!"

It only made Madara press down on him harder. "I'll only say this once: don't do anything to Natsume. He's my emergency ration. And don't ever think about stealing the Yuujinchou too, I've been promised it once the human dies."

Suzuya gritted his teeth. "Like I said, what _is _this Yuujinchou? !"

Madara glared and growled at him for a moment longer before transforming back into a cat. It licked its paw as he glanced at the tengu, who was sitting up. "Do you know about Natsume Reiko?"

"Who?" _Is this piggy kitty messing with—_

"Natsume Reiko. He's Natsume's deceased grandmother, the one who made the Yuujinchou. It contains all the names of the youkai she had defeated, tied to her as a contract. Natsume's been returning the names recently." The cat shook its head. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of her, or the Yuujinchou, or Natsume. You really have been sheltered quite rurally, aren't you?"

Suzuya shrugged. "Why would I care for something I don't have any relation to? Besides, I have no interest for those names, even if it meant I'd be ruling over all the youkai previously tied to that Natsume Reiko. Oh yeah. Little piggy kitty, do you know of any youkai that might have any information on our current case?"

Nyanko-sensei cringed at the awful nickname the preposterous tengu had called him. "Ignorant little prick with feathers. Follow me!"

* * *

During lunch break, one of the teachers had asked Homura to help him carry exercise equipment to the storeroom, and Natsume had tagged along after they'd finished their food with Nishimura and Kitamoto. They had wanted to come too, but Natsume insisted that they'd only end up fooling around if too much people followed, though in truth he just wanted a moment with Homura and ask him about the youkai possessing him.

When they were passing by the staircase on their way to the teachers' room to get the storeroom key, Tanuma was on his way down, and spotted them. Natsume instantly thought about how to break the news to both of them about their involvement with youkai. And Taki, too.

Tanuma wanted to follow and help them, and the other two agreed.

"Hey, Tanuma?" Natsume started as they were walking towards the field to get the equipment.

"Yeah?"

"You see…" He hesitated a little. "Homura here can see youkai."

Both Homura and Tanuma turned to look at Natsume with bewildered looks, Homura's as if he was asking him why the hell had he told Tanuma, and Tanuma's just showed surprise.

"W-Well, he can fully see them like I can. And Homura, Tanuma knows of them too. And also Taki," he explained quickly.

"Taki too? ! Wow… This is a little hard to take in. Can you see them too, Tanuma?" Homura asked.

"Nope. I can only sense little stuff like shadows and presences and all. But I hate myself for having such a stupid immune system; I almost always get a little sick after encountering one." Tanuma laughed sheepishly.

"And he always gets possessed by them too," Natsume remarked.

"Oh really… What about Taki?"

"I knew Taki the time when she was involved with a curse a youkai put on her, where she had to find it again to dispel it. Her family's associated with Onmyouji, and she found a circle that when drawn on the ground, enabled youkai to be seen by the naked eye."

"Oh… So the only ones that can really see them are you and me?"

Natsume nodded, picking up red cones scattered around the field. They each gathered some of the equipment, trying to make it without having to come back for more, but there were a lot. They still had to return to the field to pick up more stuff.

Walking to the storeroom was pretty much a silent trip, but it was a comfortable one. Homura felt more at ease and also a little happy that he knew other people that acknowledge and have been involved with youkai. It made him feel like he would fit in nicely with these guys.

They'd decided that Homura and Tanuma would be clearing away all the stuff they'd brought over and Natsume would go back for more. Natsume didn't mind, at least he got to stay out in the open with fresh air keeping him alert other than having to clear up in the dusty old storeroom.

But he kind of wished he never left Homura alone after that.

Natsume was going back for the last time, and the other two was putting away equipment. While waiting for their brown-haired friend they lingered outside, relieved to be out of the dusty environment of the who-knows-how-many-years-since-it-had-been-cleaned-last storeroom.

They were talking about something that involved fish, when Homura suddenly felt a little sick. It felt as if something had clamped itself over his body and squeezed him till he was exhausted and out of breath. He had a high suspicion that the youkai was taking over his body, but before he could stop it his eyes had already darkened to that black glassy color.

Tanuma noticed the sudden silence and peeked over at the teen next to him. He was just going to ask what had happened when he was thrown over, with Homura on top of him and his fingers curled around his neck. He had on a wicked grin.

Tanuma scrabbled at the hands choking him, surprised not only at the situation but also how surreal it felt to have someone shorter than him choking him with such force he thought impossible.

"Homura… Stop…" he wheezed, legs thrashing as he tried to kick him away or something, at least he could gain an opening and maybe knock him out. But the hands around his neck didn't hesitate to strangle him any further.

Meanwhile Natsume was on his way back to the storeroom. He thought it strange that Homura and Tanuma weren't at the door waiting for him until he got his answer as he drew near. He dropped all those balls he had collected and rushed to the struggling duo, and shoved Homura out of the way. The youkai must have seized control of his vessel and tried to hurt Tanuma for some reason.

"Tanuma! Are you okay? !" Natsume asked worriedly as he helped his coughing friend to sit up.

Tanuma shook his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. More importantly…" he trailed off when his eyes focused on Homura, who seemed like he was in a daze. He was clutching his head with one hand and looked utterly confused.

"Homura, is it gone now?" Natsume asked. He thought it had stepped back by then, but apparently not.

Homura—or more accurately, the thing inside Homura—grinned. _"That human looks delicious~ How nice, how nice~ There are a lot of tasty food here~" _It started giggling like a child.

"By the looks of it, he's possessed by something, isn't he?" Tanuma asked, catching on quite quickly, rubbing his sore neck.

Natsume nodded. "Oi, what exactly do you want from Homura? And why'd you kill all those youkai in Yatsuhara?" If the youkai decided to open its mouth now then it would be a good chance to get something out of him.

It said nothing, but just kept on smiling as it continued staring at them.

"Youkai!"

All three turned to side as Suzuya suddenly appeared. Suzuya had the impression that the black-haired boy had experience with youkai too, so he made himself visible. There weren't any other humans loitering about at the time so he didn't feel worried about the possible outcomes.

Tanuma's eyes widened when he saw the lean winged figure, a little bit surprised at how easily he could see it, plus, the image wasn't as blurry as all the other times he'd seen the otherworldly creatures.

"Answer me. What do you want?" Suzuya demanded.

Homura smiled as a different voice answered Natsume's previous question. _"I didn't kill those youkai."_

"Then?"

"_I ate them, of course. Well, I didn't eat the flesh; I just took the blood and left the place."_

The two humans winced as they heard that particular sentence.

The tengu's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"_Simple. I have to get stronger. Because you see, humans are such foolish creatures. They sealed a powerful youkai with a half-assed spell. But it still cost me time and energy to break away from it. Now that I'm almost free, I just have to collect more power and then I'll leave to take my revenge. No worries, I won't harm this boy. But I guess, when you're possessed by evil spirits for too long—"_

"—there's a bigger chance of getting infected by the dark energy," Suzuya finished its sentence.

"_Well, I'll leave as soon as I replenish my energy. But of course, we don't know how long that will take, no? I wonder how long this boy will last~" _

Natsume uttered a skeptical 'what' as Suzuya marched forward and grabbed the front of Homura's uniform, pulling him close.

"You—"

"_If you so much as lay a finger on me, I'll take over the boy's mind by force. You might not know, but his heart is overcome by all the melancholy a dream-eater would just love to feast on." _

Suzuya loosened his grip with narrowed eyes. "I understand. Now begone," he commanded.

Homura gave one last smile before he went limp and when he opened his eyes again, he was back to the real Homura.

Suzuya crossed his arms as his eyes darted between Natsume, the black-haired boy and Homura.

"You," he called.

"Me?" Tanuma asked.

Suzuya nodded. "What's your name?"

"Tanuma. Tanuma Kaname, that is."

Suzuya fell into deep silence again.

"Tanuma, you can see Suzuya?" Natsume asked.

"Stop fussing, I made myself visible," the tengu snapped. "Are you okay?" he asked Homura who was still feeling a bit shaky.

"Yeah, and I have a good grip on what's going on. So what do we do now?"

"… Let me think this over for a while. I'll be seeing you soon. And Tanuma."

Said teen looked up at the mention of his name to see the tengu coming towards him, hand outstretched. He blinked when he touched his forehead lightly before withdrawing his arm.

"That's to prevent you from getting side effects of that damned youkai. You have a lot of spiritual energy but your body can't accept it much so you'd better look after yourself. Well then, I'll get going, the little piggy kitty will scratch me if I don't." Suzuya proceeded to spread his wings and in a second, he was already gone.

The three boys went on with cleaning and returned the key to the teacher, then went back to their respective classrooms. Before parting Homura apologized to Tanuma for choking him, glancing guiltily at the faint red marks his fingers made around his neck, and Natsume apologized for deciding not to let him get involved in their current case any further since he was one of the youkai's targets, and promised to keep him updated. Tanuma just shook his head and smiled, thinking about how there were two secretive idiots now.

* * *

Homura was now back in his own apartment, with Natsume occasionally checking on him through his cell. It would've been great if Natsume had a cellphone too, at least they could contact or mail each other easily, but being the kind of guy he was, he guessed he didn't want to trouble the Fujiwara couple much. He too would probably do the same if he were in his shoes.

He rested comfortably on his sofa, towel around his neck as water dripped from his not-so-wet hair, staring at his cellphone screen. Natsume had last called him an hour ago, and had reminded him that he'd call every two to three hours or so, except from 9p.m. onwards. He smiled, thinking of the way he fussed over him like he was a child. Touko-san, too.

… Seiji, too. But of course, _his _fussing irked him to no end, and usually ended with Homura landing a hit on him.

His eyes strayed to the piano a few paces off, and, sighing, made his way there, lightly pressing on a key. In the end the urge to play the instrument overpowered his longing to wolf down the cookies he had bought from the supermarket two days ago, so he sat on the seat and started playing. His slender fingers created a wonderful melody as they ghosted over the keys, that, and the experience he had gained over the year as well as his love for music.

He never needed sheet music that much, because he liked playing tunes from all the anime he watched. Converting something that was composed by someone else, and adding a few splashes of colors to it, without the help of anything other than the original tune proved to be a challenge he always liked to conquer. For that he would have to listen carefully to the song, over and over, but the piece completed at the end filled him with self-satisfaction. To listen, memorize, and press the right keys and make it as wonderful as the original composition is what you call playing by ear.

… Before the incident happened, he and Seiji always got together and when they'd gotten bored of fooling around, they'd play music. He would create piano versions, and the other acoustic versions, as well as electric guitar versions. He had always liked the way Seiji's fingers strummed against the guitar; he had made it seem so easy. And then he'd asked him to teach him how to play too. Being the fast learner he was he got over it quickly, only hesitating from time to time. Seiji had always complained to him how unfair it was when he himself had took several years to get real good, Homura had only taken a few months. But, granted, Homura couldn't play as well as his now-deceased friend. Now he could never play with his best friend anymore. All that's left now are memories. And speaking of memories, Homura didn't know whether it was good practice or not, but he had kept a mental list of all the songs they had played together, and had listened to himself play a number of times when the loneliness settled in. Though he missed the familiar laughter and the intentional out-of-tune strumming of a guitar, he felt warm inside when he thought of how he could at least give himself—and _him_—some good memories to reminisce.

He sighed when he finished playing his current piece. It was from one of the newest anime he'd watched, one that involved a lot of hotshot professionals. Its character design was by one of his favorite artists, the producing company was a famous one, and the songs included was by a famous band, and the one who composed it was a famous composer. All the good features for such a good series. Plus, it had already gained quite a number of fans even though the third chapter has only just been aired. He had the hunch it would be expensive once it came out on DVD.

It's a beautiful melody, though the meaning of the lyrics is sad. A song about the foolishness of humans, constantly hurting each other just to achieve their goals, how cruel they are, for ignoring all the good resources available when it was still right in front of them.

'_Oh my, human boy, if you reveal to me any more of your feelings and memories I might be compelled to find out more.'_

"You're the… youkai?" Homura asked aloud, fingers hovering in mid-air, the smooth flow of the melody broken off.

'_Yes, of course. You really are an interesting human. You haven't let go of yourself much and yet… all those darkness overflowing out of the wounds of your heart… Hey… You probably have much, much more buried deep inside you, do you not? Why don't you let go of it, open up…'_

"Shut up," he snapped. "I'm not getting influenced by you. Just now was just a slip-up. It won't happen again." How dare it…! To peek into his thoughts and memories like that!

'_My, my, what a short fuse you have… Though I might as well tell, I did not 'peek' into your thoughts and memories. You were the one who showed them to me. I merely took note of them so I could find a way to blackmail you.'_

Homura gritted his teeth. "… How long are you planning to stay in my body like this?"

'_Like I said, until I get all my strength back. Then I shall leave and have my revenge to the petty humans.'_

"You do know that once you get out, Suzuya would probably thrash you."

'_Yes, I am aware of that, but if I take you hostage, your friends wouldn't dare to do such reckless things, will they?'_

"Wha—!"

'_So now, just close your eyes, dear human. _

_And let me control you.'_

* * *

_**Oooh~ I haven't been able to put this down recently… I get so motivated reading all your wonderful reviews! :3 Oh, and the so-called new anime Homura meant is Guilty Crown, by the way. The art is simply amazing. *p* And I LOVE Euterpe; that's the piece Homura was playing, though of course, you can't really hear it. –v-" However, there really IS a piano version of Euterpe, as well as a music box version, on Youtube. I highly recommend that you go watch it. That and the anime itself. XD And when I wrote about the**_ '_**even though the third chapter has only just been aired', it's the truth. D: The third chapter is already out in Japan, and the second chapter is available with subs. I hope the next chapter would come out soon~**_

_**Euterpe [piano version] – youtube (dot) com/watch?v=r-W8paeFrm4&feature=related**_

_**Euterpe [music box version] -**** youtube (dot) com/watch?v=SdDDzfmtYE0&feature=related**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Random: Hello readers. XD Enjoy, though the chapter is a bit longish.**_

* * *

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 11_

_Exorcism_

* * *

'_So now, just close your eyes, dear human. _

_And let me control you.'_

Those words rang loudly in his ears more than anything, but though he wanted to wake up from the nightmare, he couldn't. The youkai in him had taken control of his body and he can't even think without the youkai's devilish plans and years of hatred resounding in his mind, and through his own eyes he could see trees. They were in the forest, in the dead of night. Homura couldn't believe it. At night it was like a different world, all around there were more youkai than nocturnal creatures he could see, though of course, it might have been because the youkai possessing him could have taken a different route normal humans couldn't pass.

_What do you think, boy? Which one shall I devour? Which one? _The youkai's voice echoed in his mind, temporarily stopping the chain of unwanted scenes from its black past.

'_What do you mean?' _Homura thought, frightened. _'You can't possibly be thinking of using my body to… to…'_

_To devour them, yes. But you shan't worry, I won't make you watch._

Homura saw an equally frightened rabbit-formed youkai cowering right in front of him. He saw his own arms reaching forward; felt his body closing in on the creature.

'_N-No…!'_

He could feel his lips curling up into a smile.

_I promise._

* * *

Homura awoke to the sound of somebody ringing his doorbell. At first he thought it was somebody else's and curled up into a ball and tried to ignore the sound, but then he doubted it to be his neighbor's door since it was so loud so got up reluctantly and walked sluggishly to the front door. He pressed on a button of a screen attached to the wall and sure enough, it was a guest for him. There was Natsume, fidgeting outside.

He unlocked the door and cleared the sofa of the CDs and books cluttering it. "Come in~ Let me clear up a bit."

"Good morning, Homura. Looks like you just got out of bed."

"Yeah, you're the one who woke me up."

He could hear Natsume laughing behind him. "Well, sorry to have disturbed your 'sleep', your highness but we have school to go to. So get up and get ready. I have a lunchbox Touko-san prepared for you, too."

"Ehh… Why did she do that? I can prepare my own lunches, no need to waste your family's food for me."

"Yeah, well, she seems to have taken a liking to you, and it's all leftovers anyway, so—" Natsume gasped when he saw Homura's face for the first time when he turned around. Blood smeared his cheek, and streaks of them lined his bedclothes. "Homura!" he cried and grasped his shoulders. "What did it do? !"

Homura blinked, no doubt surprised. "D-Do what?"

Natsume swallowed. He took his hand and brought it up to his face, and rubbed it against his cheek. Homura's eyes widened in terror when he saw the red substance on his fingers. "Whose blood is this…?" Natsume asked cautiously.

"I… I…" He started shaking. He squeezed his eyes shut and flopped down on the sofa, hands on his face. Involuntarily he remembered that rabbit youkai, and how he caught it, and how the youkai inside him seeped out of him and killed it, and back in his body. He remembered flinging its dead body aside as the youkai made him trudge back home, careful not to be seen by anybody. He felt sick all the way through. Even if the one who… ate it was the youkai, but it was back in his body so technically…

He gagged.

* * *

He went to school with Natsume—after the latter made him eat at least _something_—but found that he could not concentrate much. Natsume, too, was worried. It made Nishimura and Kitamoto confused to find them both dazed and unresponsive and in the end, left them alone, not before Natsume apologized, but they'd brushed it off easily.

During lunch break Homura didn't have the appetite to eat; he just stared at the food arranged neatly in front of him by Touko-san—a meal identical to Natsume's, only Natsume ate and he didn't. But he tried to make an effort so Touko-san might not feel offended, and after Natsume's encouraged smile, managed to swallow some of the egg and rice. Natsume noticed—with increasing worry—that Homura avoided looking at the cherry tomatoes, and purposefully deserted the meat.

Last evening, Suzuya had stopped by his home, Hinoe and Benio at either side of him. Neither looked too happy being with each other, so he could only guess that they were forcefully dragged there by Suzuya. And Suzuya might be irritated of having to deal with female youkai. Two of them, too.

They sat in a circle, looking all serious. Hinoe explained that she had caught a glimpse of the youkai before it got to Homura, and said that it was an evil spirit that's been sealed to a tree for a long time. Though it wasn't originally evil, the villagers had put blame on it and sealed it to a tree. Ever since then it had started to hate humans and wanted revenge against those who had wronged it.

Benio then said that it must have possessed Homura because of his high spiritual power, and because of the darkness in him similar to it. She had drawn the conclusion that if what Natsume and Suzuya had told her was true, then the youkai would most probably be attached to him. It also might have influenced Homura to go along with its plans.

In the end Natsume gave up and contacted Natori, since he'd suddenly remembered that Natori was going to seal it too. Might as well contact someone kind he knew instead of having Matoba commanding his shiki to roam the forests and finding out about Homura.

Natsume stared across at the teen; he looked so pale. Of course he would, who wouldn't when you wake up finding traces of blood all over you. Natsume wanted to tell Homura of the plan Natori had told him about late last night, but since he had forbidden him not to, he couldn't. Natori had told him that if they told Homura everything then the youkai might know by peeking into his thoughts, then everything would go down the drain.

He had received a letter from him early in the morning when he woke up, stuck to his window.

When they were in school studying, he and Hiiragi would find a suitable place, draw the circles, and make other necessary preparations with Suzuya behind-the-scenes. A very reluctant Nyanko-sensei would be hidden until things got out of hand.

And if things got out of hand, then they couldn't be sure if Nyanko-sensei would turn into Madara and gobble it up himself.

He also told him to drag Homura along to the forest, where Hiiragi would fetch them and bring them to the area.

His only orders for Homura are that they were going to help him, and he had to control his feelings when they started the ritual. The youkai could be manipulating him into not cooperating, and only if Homura can force it out can they properly seize it. Natori made strict orders for Natsume to limit his words, too.

Natsume smiled at Homura when he looked up at him guiltily; it was obvious he could not gulp down any more of the otherwise delicious food. It had only served to make him remember about the blood coating him in the morning. Natsume pretended not to notice, but when he had gotten Homura into the bathroom he could hear him scrubbing at his face, and when he had walked out in his towel, he had smiled as if it was all back to normal again, although his hands and cheek were a bit red.

_Don't worry, Homura. After school, this is all going to be over._

* * *

Homura glanced around when they'd reached the school gate, and pondered, slowing down his pace.

"What are you thinking about?" Natsume asked.

The latter cocked his head to the side. "I… have some shopping to do. Wanna follow? I'll treat you to something."

Natsume blinked, throwing a sideward glance his way. As he did he spotted a white paper doll—Natori's, obviously—sticking on a branch where you couldn't miss it if you look towards the forest. It started waving, whether by itself or by the wind blowing, he didn't know. But he knew that it was time to move.

He turned to look behind him; there weren't many people around, though there was a group, but they were too far away to notice them.

"Homura, we gotta go!" He swiftly took Homura's hand and ran, ignoring Homura's surprised cry, guiding them both through the trees, keeping his eyes alert for more of those paper dolls. Those paper dolls could only serve to give them directions, Natsume thought. After all, Natori wouldn't stick to them to any surface just for fun. But he was pretty sure the one who'd pasted them was Hiiragi, since Natori was supposed to be busy drawing circles and all.

They arrived to an area where trees surround the grass like a miniature enclosure. Honestly Natsume wondered why they'd chosen such a dark place for exorcises.

There was a large circle on the ground, very much like the one drawn during their time sealing the large-headed youkai only to be taken by Matoba's group, with a similar pot at a spot where he would probably be. Suzuya nor Nyanko-sensei was nowhere to be seen, most likely hidden.

Homura felt an impending dread. He didn't like anything to do with this, but it was better than having to keep it in his body for any longer. Natsume took his bag and placed it to the side with his, then went near the man Natsume got help from. Somehow he felt there was something oddly familiar about the man, though he couldn't be sure. His face was shrouded by a hat, so he couldn't see his facial features very clearly. There was a female youkai wearing a mask among them, too.

"Okay, listen to me, boy," the man said. "Take in a deep breath."

He did.

"Try to shut off your mind to the outside world, so 'it' wouldn't find out. Guard your thoughts well. And relax, that's the most important." Natori saw the boy nod and try to relax, as he'd told him. He gave him a little time, meanwhile flashing Natsume an encouraging smile.

"Have you relaxed?"

Homura nodded without a word, eyes closed.

"Okay." He produced an ofuda-like piece of paper, placed it to lips, and muttered something Natsume didn't catch, and then broke into a run in Homura's direction. Homura, at the time, had his eyes closed and didn't notice until he was firmly pressing a piece of paper against his forehead. He distinctly heard the man telling him keep focused on his thoughts and try to drive the youkai out. He opened his eyes in a hurry; part of his vision was obscured by the paper. He felt something nagging at the back of his mind. How exactly was this man assuming that he could understand an instruction like that and follow? ! How do you even drive something not you out of your own body in the first place? ! He started to panic and shook his head, but the man's other hand reached up and locked a good grip on the back of his head.

"Don't fight it! Think of it as you're imagining that you're kicking somebody out of your house! Try and call out to the youkai, and when it answers 'drive' it out!"

Homura squeezed his eyes back closed and tried his best to focus. Right, there was a time when Seiji forcefully invaded his room after a few of the upperclassmen tried to mess with him. He had fought back because Seiji was nearby, but in the end he got involved too. He didn't think letting him into his room was a good idea and locked it before the other even managed to make it up the stairs, but apparently he was stupid enough to overlook the fact that the home owners made duplicates of their room keys and hung them up in the kitchen in case of emergencies. Seiji, of course, just _had _to know about that and got his room key. He'd tried to force him to get out after that, but eventually he admitted his defeat.

Homura drew in a quick breath. No need to think about what happened after that. _Just focus on when I tried to get him out. _

He relaxed a little, Natori noticed, and he thought that maybe this was going to go along easy after all. "Alright. So now—"

Suddenly the boy broke into a fit of hysterical giggles. Hiiragi yelled at him to get away, and he quickly let go of him and withdrew the hand holding the exorcising spell to his forehead, and turned to dash back to his original position, only to have his wrist locked in a vice grip by the once-more-possessed boy.

"Wha—"

Homura snatched the paper from out of the exorcist's hand, and ripped it in half, still giggling. "Ahahahaha, it's been _such _a long time since I've had this much _fun_! Fools, to think I won't be able to figure out your so-called plans!" He let go of Natori's wrist. "Well, it _is _true that both you and the boy over there are fools, but, Homura-'kun', you are the biggest fool of them all!" He laughed.

Natori backed a few paces, cursing. "What do you mean? Haven't you disturbed his life enough?"

"No, I haven't. It still isn't enough to make the poor boy bow down to me! Don't you understand? This child has such an enormous amount of potential darkness I can feed on! In a matter of _days _I may even be strong enough to free myself! Or I can be strong enough to devour the boy altogether, even!" A couple of dry laughs escaped his lips.

Natori noticed a flutter of activity in the leaves of trees. He knew it was Suzuya, he could barely make out some feathers poking out. He immediately raised a hand in that direction, silently commanding him not to make a move yet.

"W-Well, what did you mean by the boy being the bigger fool here?" he asked, trying to draw some attention.

"You have my most 'honorable' pity, exorcist. Even though you had given the simplest instructions to drive me out, the boy just had to search his memories for an example! And—" Suddenly he froze, black eyes wide. "You…!"

Homura wasn't that sure what had happened, but he was sure that somehow the youkai had found a way to take control of him. But suddenly he was back again, blinking confusedly. "Eh…? Did I…"

"Homura-kun!" Natori called urgently. "Come here to the edge of the circle! Quick!"

Homura willed his feet to move, and ran over to the circle. But he fell all of a sudden, and with an alarmed cry, doubled over when he tried to get up, shaking.

"Homura! What happened?" Natsume cried, panicked.

"L-Legs… cramped up…"

There was another flutter of wings. Natori looked fiercely in that direction and turned to look at Homura. _The youkai must be trying to stop him_, he observed. He racked his mind for a solution.

'_Hah, never think that I would let go of you that easily, boy!'_

"Sh-Shut up…" He exclaimed in surprise when he felt a great deal of pain coursing up and down his body.

'_You've made me very angry. Now I'm going to take over by force, whether you like it or not.'_

Suzuya gritted his teeth as he watched the scene below him with great apprehension. _Damn that Natori, I don't think I can hold out much longer… _

Homura's breathing came out in short, harsh breaths as he felt his mind slowly draw a blank. He swallowed hard. If he lost his power to think, that would mean that the youkai would win without much trouble. _Damn it… _He willed himself to _think_, to find that missing link so the youkai could get the hell out of his body. He weighed all of his current pain in his mind, and suddenly…

He did it.

With something akin to an electric shock he felt it trying to break away, but it must have grown attached to him; he felt it struggle. Whether it was struggling to get out of his body or vice versa, he didn't know, but the pain was escalating with every passing second. Finally he saw dark mist surrounding his body, and the pain slowly started to ebb away, but he still felt the rush of it in him, and it seemed like his body didn't realize it yet.

To hell with the pain, Homura was actually starting to feel relieved when he saw that his vision was blurring and felt his system shutting down. He gladly accepted the darkness embracing him. But it wasn't the time yet.

* * *

Natori braced himself when he finally saw the youkai starting to seep out of the boy's body. He was starting to get worried that he would have to drive it out by force, but if possible he wanted to keep that option until things got out of hand. He didn't want Natsume to witness it more than he already needed to. He sneaked a brief glance at the younger male who was crouching to his side, readying the pot needed to seal the youkai. Sure enough, there was a worried expression clearly written all over his face. But suddenly his eyes widened.

"Natori-san!"

Natori turned around immediately. Sure, the youkai was out, but instead of being forced to get drawn to the circle like it was supposed to, it resisted the pull and made for limp boy's neck, choking him. A strangled gurgle was heard, and Natori saw yet another angry flap of wings among the trees and Natsume fingers clench around the pot.

He drew out another paper and flung it at the youkai. He knew that it would stick to the youkai's forehead and weaken it very considerably. He also purposefully chose a weaker spell so the youkai wouldn't just disintegrate in front of their eyes. It screamed angrily, and was pulled towards the circle.

Suzuya felt something similar to anger bubbling inside of him, but still viewed the situation below. The exorcist had something stick to the youkai's forehead, Natsume was ready with the pot, Homura was lying limp on the ground. He thought that maybe he wasn't needed after all, until he spotted the youkai—who was then kneeling; the ritual is going to end soon—claw at the spell on its forehead.

He wasted no time and flew down to Homura, muttering a quick apology before possessing his body this time. He felt himself adjust to the body quickly, then jumped up and ran to the bushes where Natori had stashed the wooden stick earlier. It had spells bound all along it, and Suzuya knew it could do him harm too if he was hit, but right then he was in a human's body so it couldn't affect him. He saw the look of surprise on Natsume's face, and smirked as he ran towards the circle, wooden 'weapon' outstretched. It made contact with the youkai's back, and then it really was over. The youkai was locked inside the pot, the exorcist sealed it, and it was clear the little piggy kitty was not needed.

Natsume ran to his side immediately; Natori followed suit, nodding at him with understanding.

"Homura! Are you…" he paused when he saw blue eyes in place of dark reddish ones and a smirk instead of the usual smile.

"Heh. It's Suzuya, not Homura." He closed his eyes and got out easily, catching Homura as he started to lean sideways and picked him up. Natsume looked at the unconscious teen's face, eyebrows knit together.

Natori placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, he's fine now. He just needs a little rest, that's all."

Natsume nodded, but he didn't look convinced.

"Well then, since this is finally over, we should all get home now. Let's do this—you guys get Homura-kun back to his house, and I can contact Fujiwara-san if you're so worried. But if he's still not okay in the morning, don't make him go to school."

"But…"

"He needs all the rest he can get—it's been rough for him recently. And tomorrow after you finish school, let's meet up somewhere and I'll treat you both to lunch," Natori said cheerfully. "I haven't properly introduced myself to Homura-kun anyway."

Natsume smiled. "Thank you, Natori-san!"

Suzuya nodded. "Yes, thank you, _Natori-san_," he said with obvious sarcasm.

"Hmm? And what's the matter with you?" he asked.

"Forgive me for stating the fact that I had my share of trouble with this guy too, exorcist."

"Oh? Does that mean you wanna come too?" Natori teased.

"Of course," Suzuya replied curtly, completely ignoring the teasing coming out of the actor's mouth. "I want delicious food."

"Food, you say?" Nyanko-sensei cried, hopping into Natsume's arms. "I'm coming too!"

Both Suzuya and Natori looked away at the same time, as if not acknowledging the cat's presence.

Ignoring Nyanko-sensei's rants, Suzuya said:"I wish he'd wake up soon."

Natori's eyes widened. "Are you actually worried for him?"

"No. I'm going to beat him up when he does."

"Don't!" Natsume said.

* * *

_**Well… Sorry for the crappy ending, I couldn't find another way to end this chapter… But I hope you guys liked this chapter too! Sorry I didn't go too detailed on the spells though. I couldn't find any of the incantations and I was lazy to rewatch Natsume Yuujinchou just to see what Natori and Matoba said. **_

_**By the way, I actually came up with another idea for a Natsume Yuujinchou fanfic! =D But it's not my original idea, I just sort of planned it out while viewing fan-drawn manga. If you go on Zerochan(dot)net, her ID is Rcsemato. You can click on the Pixiv link on the right if you want to go to her Pixiv page, where the manga is. Just to let you know, she draws the most Natsume Yuujinchou fanart, and the most beautiful, too! And also… the most erotic. [sideward glance, sheepish smile] **_

_**So, the fic is going to be about Nyanko-sensei actually abandoning Natsume. [noooo don't kill me just yeeet~] Then he was taken to Matoba's house by Natori, and… I'm not so sure what happens after that because it's more focused on what happens BEFORE that, lol… Anyways, it's going to be angsty, and if you're interested in reading it, let me know~ Or else I'll tweak the plot a bit and if it goes well, it's gonna be another different story… Or not a story at all… **_

_**BUT, I'll be posting it when I have the time since my current priorities are this fic and my Durarara! one. But, yeah, I'll post it. =D**_

_**Reviews please~ Nomi nomi nom nom**_


	12. Chapter 12

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 12_

* * *

The next thing Homura noticed when he stirred was how light his body felt, and judging by the amount of bright white light showing through the cracks of his eyes he knew that he was in a room. And that it was night. He groaned, and turned away from the light, wanting to get more sleep. He didn't give a damn about the youkai anymore; as long as it's gone he's okay with it.

He also had the apparent ignorance as to where he is at. Sometimes he thinks that his tendency to let things just slide past like this, especially when he's had to go through much serious situations, is getting a little hard to restrain. But when he finally opened his eyes and looked around he saw that he was in his own apartment. He sat up groggily, and saw Natsume curled up in another couch, watching TV—though he had set it at a really low volume.

"Ah, Homura! Sorry if this bothered you."

"No, it didn't. I didn't even realize it was on."

Natsume nodded. "So. How do you feel?" He turned to look at him seriously.

"I'm feeling much better now, thanks. Just a little tired."

"Oh really. Do you think you can go to school tomorrow?"

"Mm-hmm." Homura felt itchy and started scratching his back, and realized that he was still in his school uniform. Natsume noticed, and laughed dryly.

"Sorry about that. I didn't think I was that chummy to be able to freely walk around this place. That would also explain for the fact that Suzuya dumped you on the couch."

"Oh… Where is he?"

"He already left. Hey, do you mind if I stay here tonight?"

"Eh? ! Wha… But why?"

"Natori-san told me to keep an eye on you. Plus, he already called Touko-san and I got permission so I'm not going back," Natsume clarified firmly.

Homura lowered his gaze. _So now he's staying at __**my**__ place? _After a second of hesitation, he nodded, and got up. "Have you showered?" he asked.

"Nope. Not yet."

"Okay. I'll get the bath ready, then you go shower. I'll prepare dinner and spread out a futon for you. You didn't bring anything with you right? Give me your clothes and I'll wash them," Homura said, stretching.

"Y-You don't need to," Natsume said hurriedly. "If you give me permission to mess with your stuff a little I can do all of them myself, besides, you're not well yet!"

Homura shook his head defiantly. "No. You're my guest here. And you didn't give me a chance to do anything last time, so now I'm repaying you. And don't bother with permission. You're free here. There's no one other than me anyway. I have nothing to hide." He shrugged.

"But—"

"Listen, if you interrupt for even a little I… won't give you any dinner."

"No, I don't really mind…"

"Gahh, why are you so against it? !"

"Then why are _you_ being so stubborn too?"

Homura pouted. "Fine. You can help me. But don't think it'll just end that easy."

* * *

Homura purposely banged his head on the coffee table, exhausted. It never occurred to him that Natsume could be so… persistent when it comes to certain things. He insisted on filling up the bath himself, he shooed Homura aside when he was trying to put laundry in the wash, he didn't let go of the knife when he wanted to peel the vegetables, he didn't budge when he tried to persuade him to watch TV, and he wanted to set the table himself. Homura honestly couldn't understand how in earth he could survive without having people take advantage of him that way.

He sighed. They had just finished dinner. He felt like he wanted to get to sleep right away, but he didn't exactly want to abandon Natsume in this unknown apartment either. He had also noticed that Natsume didn't stray too far. _I guess he's just really considerate, _he thought.

"Natsume?" he called without looking up.

"Mm?" Natsume was watching a drama series starring Natori. He thought of telling Homura about him, but decided not to as he wanted to see his reaction tomorrow.

"Wanna look around?"

"No need," he answered politely.

"… Remember when I told you that if you came over anytime I'll play for you?"

"Ah… Music?" Honestly Natsume thought it would be great, but he didn't want to burden him. Like Natori said, he had to get Homura to rest somehow, but he seemed like the type that can't sit still doing nothing. He kept on trying to get him not to help him, either. Natsume only realized moments after that he was exactly like him. Kind, but also pushy. He almost smiled when he remembered Nyanko-sensei lecturing him about not being able to go through a day without getting involved in meaningless youkai business.

"Un." Homura nodded. "Come on."

He led Natsume to another section of his apartment where people won't usually notice if they were only in the living room and dining area. There wasn't exactly a motive to do so, but he didn't really have any knowledge of room furnishing so he just arranged stuff where he liked.

Natsume looked around in awe. It was like a mini gallery in there. The piano sat off to one side, and pictures decorated the walls. He noticed a photograph collage on one wall. Mostly there were pictures of him, and Natsume guessed that the man with seemingly-present authority and the beautiful woman are Homura's parents. He didn't see anybody that looked like siblings. He also noticed a guy that looked around his age. He guessed that it's a good friend, judging by the way they stuck together and smiled. Natsume had never seen Homura smile like that yet before, and the Homura in the pictures seemed to possess a slightly-different aura than the present one. He wondered why, but it wasn't his place to question.

Homura noticed Natsume staring at his picture wall, and felt a little apprehensive. Instead he went on and showed him who the people were. "—and this is Kagurazaka Seiji. He's my friend."

"He seems to be a radiant person, doesn't he?"

"No actually, he's _too _radiant. And spoiled."

Natsume laughed. "How did he feel about you moving away? If you're his best friend he must feel devastated." He thought of Nishimura and Kitamoto's relationship. Maybe Kitamoto would actually feel relieved if he'd be able to get away from Nishimura, but he didn't think Nishimura would just sit there and take it in.

Homura's smile froze on his face, but Natsume didn't notice it. "Um… He's…" He swallowed thickly. "D-Dead," he whispered.

"Eh…?" Natsume felt a wave of guilt rushing over him, and quickly apologized.

"Hehe, don't worry. You didn't know. I'll tell you about him next time. Come on, here's my piano."

* * *

"N… N-Natori-san is… Natori Shuuichi… He's the one…" Homura said blankly. They had just met up and as promised, said actor treated them to a meal with Homura being all awkward and disbelieving; and now, he and Natsume were on their way back home. Suzuya had flew ahead and disappeared whereas Nyanko-sensei had already trotted off to the woods before anybody could stop him.

Natsume laughed. "Don't worry about it too much, Homura, or else it gets even more unbelievable. I was pretty shocked myself too when I first knew."

"How did you know him?"

"Yeah, well," Natsume averted his gaze sideways. "It all started with a paper doll that literally kidnapped me and brought me to him."

Homura blinked. "Spare me the details, please. Let me wrap my head around this much for a while."

The other teen shrugged. "You're the one who wanted to know anyway." He shifted, and Homura could see the green edges of the Yuujinchou Suzuya had mentioned to him the other day. It seems like it's a book of contracts, only Natsume's cancelling them by returning all the youkais' names. Because of that book the name Natsume had grown to be of power again around the area. Truthfully Homura didn't find anything distinctive enough about that knowledge that made him feel any closer to Natsume than he is recently, but maybe if he could share the secret too, he could also share the burden. More than anything Homura would know that overwhelming feeling of wanting to just shout at somebody's face that he can fucking see weird things and not being able to in the end because of the possible outcomes of shock and rejection.

"Natsume?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you show me your 'Yuujinchou'? I wanna see how it looks like inside."

Natsume's eyes instantly snapped wide open as he jerked his head to look at the teen smiling beside him. _How could he know? Nobody could have known. None of the youkai even dropped by these past couple of days._

"Don't… get so shocked. I see what you see too, remember? I share this world's view with you. Little youkai and big youkai, enchanting ones as well as evil spirits, we see them all. That's why, I think it's better for you to at least let me in on your experiences. Actually Natsume, I saw a dream the other day. When I slept at your house. I don't know whether it's a natural ability for people like us but I can sometimes see youkai's dreams, or even humans' pasts, if they are close enough. It was a very sad one. Things you couldn't tell anybody. Things you had no choice but to hide to protect the ones you love. Friends you sometimes had to leave behind in the dark to tend to something far more serious. I understand pretty much everything. And I really admire Natsume Takashi for having such a bold and kind heart. You always think for others before yourself. Even though it's very admirable, I also think it's very reckless."

"… What are you trying to say?"

Homura thought a while before answering. "Well, since I'm just an outsider, and I don't know everything that's going on, but I think that if you keep up this front, you'll just get crushed by all the pressure in the end. When I was younger, I didn't even try to make friends. I usually just sit in the farthest corner, looking out the window, listening in on everybody's conversations. Because honestly, I just don't care anymore. But you, I can see the amount of hard work you put in."

_What is with Homura, talking out of the blue like this? I never heard him talk so much like this before… And… everything he says… hits the mark spot on. _Natsume grimaced as he grew uneasy.

Homura had stopped abruptly, so Natsume sneaked a peek to see what happened, only to see the other leaning sideways and resting heavily against his chest.

"Homura? !"

"Sorry. Help me sit down for a while," he muttered.

Natsume did as he was told, guiding Homura to the side of the road and sitting on the grass. Instead Homura laid back and stared up the sky, the colors blending in, slowly darkening, slowly revealing the twinkling stars that would soon show up. Natsume looked at his friend with worry.

"You saw the pictures he hung up on that wall, didn't you?" By then Suzuya didn't care if he was messing up his role-playing. He had possessed him as soon as the two humans let their guard down and thought he had already gone. Soon he would have to get out of that body that belonged to Akatsuki Homura or it would put a strain on the human. He would have to convey what he wanted to say with haste and without ambiguity.

Of course, Natsume instantly knew. Those obvious blue eyes that looked up to his seriously in the next second confirmed it. Slowly he nodded, wondering where this was going.

"That other human, Kagurazaka Seiji?"

Nod.

"He's dead, right?"

Another nod.

"I am a high-class youkai, so I have certain abilities myself. This particular human was as interesting to me as a child is to, say, fireworks. The expression on his face, his behavior, his feelings. Everything. And so, I did a little snooping." 'Homura' fidgeted, but Natsume knew it was just deliberate.

"Suzuya, you shouldn't have."

"I had to. Well, curiosity may have killed the cat but it certainly didn't make a move towards this tengu yet. Back to the topic. I sorted through his memories when he was unaware, and lo, that other human was actually killed. By a youkai."

"_What?"_

"It's true. They were in a forest back where Homura was before this, and a youkai sent a barrage of large stones from atop a hill down where the humans were. Anyways, this friend protected him, but in the end both got involved. The youkai's main target was Homura's blood. So Kagurazaka Seiji died a vain death," Suzuya finished, an unfathomable expression settled on his face. "Look here." Natsume's attention was drawn to where Suzuya tilted his head, reached up and dragged down Homura's collar. There was a faint, but visible white scar. "This is where it bit him."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Natsume asked cautiously.

"This human, in whom I'm residing in at the moment, is completely unstable. If you show him too much emotions and complicated feelings, he's sure to break down. Since that incident his emotional state is like that of a child's, the simplest of simple emotions engraved into his soul that he could sense properly, but beyond that, nothing. They're not able to branch off elaborately into more complex feelings. They're like a blank to him. Right now he still hasn't got over his sadness, his fear, his anxiety. Yet over here, he is suddenly able to make friends, and find out somebody who can share the same view with him. You, of all people, should know. I know what I'm doing might be selfish, but…

"I need you to do me a favor, Natsume.

"Please stay away from Homura."

* * *

"What have you done to them, tengu?"

Suzuya knew that annoying voice all too well now. He ignored him, and kept on watching the moonbeams dancing and shimmering in the lake, with a few ayakashi lights randomly illuminating the area. Most of the youkai that passed by neither greeted him nor invited him to drink, after all, one that looked too much like a human—and didn't bother covering the fact—is bound to be a suspicious one indeed. But some of the kinder ones offered him sweets molded by dexterous hands, and it proved to be irresistible.

Suddenly he felt a hand grip his shoulder and turn him around roughly, backing him up against one of the trees. He felt bark itching his back. "Answer me."

Suzuya smirked. The voice instantly changed from the usual annoying and geezer-like tune to a more human-like, mature-sounding one, although rough. Of course, the shape had changed too. From a fat kitty, to a man with long white hair who stood taller and looked more muscular than he is.

"You look handsome in human form too, 'sensei'. I didn't even know you could take on human form," he said, amused.

"What, you think you're the only high-class being in here, tengu? Hah! Don't make a fool of yourself!" he hissed back.

"It's the truth. I didn't know. So, what have you come for so suddenly? Last I remembered, we don't exactly share a very 'affectionate' relationship." He wasn't usually this sarcastic, but he just couldn't help it in front of this creature. It just served to amuse him more the more he reacts.

"Like I said, what have you done to those two? ! I turn my back one second and when I return, both of them are completely out of it! Natsume won't say anything and looked like he wanted to avoid your human, while your human just looks so stupidly confused!"

Suzuya laughed. "You seem worried for Natsume. Well, I can't deny that I am, too. Yup. It might because of something I said. I apologize."

"Spit it out or I will bite you right here and right now," Madara commanded.

"I told your human to stay away from mine."

"Huh?"

"Like I said. I need your cooperation, even for just a while. Homura needs to work his feelings out before he goes on any further of this. I never knew that jazzy actor was part of the Natori clan, and if even _he _is involved closely with Natsume, then the Matoba clan would be too, right? I can't let him perish just like that now. There's still a lot more time for fun."

"What makes you think I'll lend a hand?"

"Easy. I'll use your human as bait and lure out the stronger youkai for the clans to notice. Won't it become a perfect revolutionary war between multiple sides now?"

Madara's grip on Suzuya's shoulder tightened. At the moment he actually felt tempted to pluck all his feathers out and humiliate him worse than any death could ever bring.

"Lay a hand on Natsume and you're dessert." He let go.

Suzuya shrugged. "Fine with me. Don't you seem to be quite close to your human, now… Be careful. He might drag you down," he said as he watched Madara's retreating figure.

"Hmph. I'm only here for the fun. And the Yuujinchou that is promised to me at his death." He transformed into the beast he was and disappeared.

"Aren't we now…" Suzuya's smile slowly dulled to a melancholic one as he stared across the waters once again, devising plans and forecasting results.

Which, of course, would effortlessly go down way, way deep into the drain because the tengu tended to forget thinking about such problematical stuff as soon as something else caught his attention. Ah, like that group bringing the dango there.

* * *

_**Noooo… Suzuya you're being a meanie… D: Honestly, I don't know what exactly I typed. I got stuck somewhere in the middle, then this huge inspirational bubble popped and I started typing and when it was over, this is the result. [sheepish smile] **_


	13. Chapter 13

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 13_

'_Suicide' Attempts_

* * *

Homura sighed as he flopped down on the couch, currently uninterested in the drama series that was airing. Instead he turned it off and dropped the remote to one side.

It was bright as day to him, even though he hadn't really noticed it the first few days, but Natsume was definitely avoiding him. He never talked to him unless necessary anymore, making excuses and spending time with Nishimura and Kitamoto or even saying that he had youkai business to attend to.

"Even though I can also pitch in and help out…" he muttered.

He didn't understand. He thought that, since the possessing incident their relationship would've worked out better and they'd be closer friends. But suddenly after meeting Natori-san and after he'd gotten that weird headache where he didn't see what was going on, Natsume just suddenly… looked away. Nyanko-sensei had sauntered along soon after that, and had asked if something had happened, but Natsume just replied no and went on back home after a short 'bye' to Homura.

Maybe he had something that was stressing him out, he figured. But nothing he thought of next could explain why he was the only one who was left out. Natsume seemed to be able to smile normally with Nishimura and Kitamoto. Or maybe, he just didn't want to involve him anymore.

Homura sighed again and got ready to go to bed.

_No point in thinking this out any further. Best get some sleep or I'll be sleepy throughout class tomorrow…_

* * *

Homura gave a wide yawn as he slowed down his running pace a little, covering his mouth and tearing up. He rubbed at his face with frustration and continued running to school.

In the end he was never able to sleep more than what seemed like a few minutes without waking up again to have the whole stupid process repeating. That would explain him getting up late and rushing to school with bread crammed in his mouth and nearly forgetting his school bag. Homura was never a really composed person who was able to keep everything under control in the first place, and him being in such a frenzy just made him look more like an idiot.

He took a look at his watch and literally hyperventilated. There were less than ten minutes until the school bell rang and one of the disciplinary committee representatives would stand guard near the school gate and he wasn't even halfway yet. If it were a representative then maybe he wouldn't mind that much, but, if one of the scary teachers decided to take a look around then that would be a pretty cause for worry.

As if that wasn't enough, he tripped.

"Uwahh!" He sat on the ground, completely deflated. "Damn," he muttered, and slowly picked up his bag, trying to take deep breaths and calm himself. Homura knew he'd be almost useless when things happened too fast. Just when he started to break into a run again he heard a rustle to the left, and snapped his head to that direction.

"Who's there?" he demanded, brushing himself off.

Silence. Homura squinted as he tried to see beyond the thick growth of trees. In the morning it was kind of hard to see what was inside the forests, especially after it rains—mist hung around well into the afternoon sometimes. He occasionally wished his parents didn't find the need to look for an apartment for him that was so close to the forests. While it would actually be pretty fun to explore on a bright sunny day forests—and the living things residing in it—are way different than pixies and faerie toadstools and those lovely flower patches you see in children's picture books once it's dark.

He shivered and turned away, straight into an enclosed fist that was outstretched towards his face. He instinctively took a step backwards. He never noticed somebody come up close, much less hear any footsteps.

He stared at the young woman in a light-colored kimono, forgetting about his tardiness entirely.

When the boy in front of her said nothing, she moved her arm slightly and brought his attention to her fist. "Here, you dropped something," she said softly.

"Eh?" Homura looked on as the woman placed his house keys on his palm. "Ah, thank you, this must have fallen out of my pocket when I fell earlier. Nn?" There was a charm too. "Um, this isn't mine."

The woman smiled. "Take it. You look like you fall down a lot."

The younger of the two blushed and stared at the ground. "A-Ahh…"

He felt a little pressure at the top of his head and quickly realized that the woman was petting him. "Hold on to it, won't you?"

… _Huh? Her hand's… so cold. I can feel it even when she's touching me so lightly. _

He looked back up again at the woman, but as quick as lightning the touch on his head was gone. His eyes widened when he saw that she was already turning the corner from where he came from. "What, was that." He looked back at the charm the woman had given him, and noticed his watch. He gasped.

"Oh shit."

* * *

As expected, he was late. But he was let off the hook pretty easily so it wasn't that bad after all. Natsume was avoiding him again, Homura noticed with a little sadness. He shook his head and proceeded to take out his lunch box so he could go eat lunch with Tanuma. Then he froze.

Oh, right.

He was the guy who had woken up late this morning and barely had time to cram his mouth full of bread and shamelessly wolfed it down in the elevator before breaking into a sprint towards school.

"Homura!" Tanuma called from outside the classroom. "Hurry up."

"Ah, sorry, Tanuma. Can you tag along with me to buy bread? I was late today."

The taller male chuckled. "You still have bed hair, you know. Did you even notice this?" he said as he smoothed down a part of Homura's hair at the back.

"Eh? ! Really? N-Nobody told me…" Homura quickly covered that part as he tried to fix it.

"I'm willing to bet my lunch that Nishimura noticed and purposely wanted to see how long it was before you finally realized it."

"Gahh."

* * *

"… Homura?" Tanuma said softly, staring into Homura's downcast eyes with worry. They were eating outside, under a shady tree. For the first few minutes things had been going smoothly, but he had suddenly gone quiet, staring emptily at his half-eaten bread.

"… Ah?" He blinked. "S-Sorry. What were you saying?"

"Hey. Are you really okay? That youkai really did leave you, didn't it?" For a moment Tanuma thought that maybe he was still being possessed, but it didn't seem so, seeing as how he had both Natsume and Homura tell him their side of the story. Besides, he didn't sense any evil presence hanging about Homura, although, there was this weird feeling…

"Yup, I'm fine. I was just sleepy," Homura laughed and continued eating.

"Oh really." Tanuma smiled.

Nope. Of course not. He was just imagining things.

* * *

Tanuma ran his hand through his hair as he trudged lazily back home. His schedule was pretty free today, well, actually, nearly every day. But he felt like he wanted to settle some stuff. Things between Homura and Natsume weren't getting any better, it seemed. Homura had told him that he was being avoided, and that was all he needed to know. Asking Natsume wouldn't be of any help at all.

But what else could he possibly do? There was nowhere he could stick his head into. How ironic. Meeting Natsume was kind of a relief to him; with him around, Tanuma felt like he could face his days without much worry. He looked up to him. After a few months—and with Taki in the gang—he saw that the two were like two helpless little baby chicks and he felt the need to protect them, especially since the incident when both of them thought they were cursed and made him recite exorcising spells. He blankly said but a mere sentence of what he—most probably—knew the most, and though that shouldn't have really made a difference the two looked at him like he was a legendary hero.

That made him realize that they were equally depending on each other.

And now, along came another one.

_I totally feel like a mother hen, _he thought amusedly. He looked up when he thought he heard some noises, and felt reassured to see Ponta stumbling around.

"Ponta!" he called and caught up to the cat.

"Hnn? Oh, it's you, Tanuma brat."

"What are you doing?"

"Walking."

"Hey, can I ask you something? I really want to know."

"Huh. Go look for someone else. I have other stuff to attend to. I'm not a walking encyclopedia for brats like you."

"Oh, what a pity. I was going to stop by for dango. Oh well. Guess I'll go back home," he said knowingly.

"D-Dango? Wait! What is it you want to know! Ask away!"

Tanuma shook his head at the immediate change and went to purchase two packets of dango while the cat waited for him outside the store. Then they sat on a bench somewhere people wouldn't be able to listen easily.

"Nee, Ponta."

"Nn?" At the moment 'Ponta' was battling with the supreme gluey goodness of a pink-colored dango ball.

"Can you tell me what's going on between Natsume and Homura? You know, you would've expected those two to stick to each other once they knew who the other was."

"Hmph. You call me out just for this? Leave them."

"I can't just leave them alone like this."

"It's that stupid tengu. He told Natsume to back off. For _what_, I don't know. I don't have the interest to, either. Either way it's their problem. You don't have to bother with them."

Tanuma cocked his head sideways thoughtfully. "Hmm~ Well, if Ponta's so against it…"

"Putting that aside, I'm finished with this! Go buy me some more dango! Quickly!"

"Eh?"

* * *

Finally he was able to escape Ponta by running away as soon as the cat got distracted by something. Tanuma adjusted his bag and walked on towards the little bridge he had to cross if he went back from the shopping district. There were several ways leading up to the temple, but he personally liked going through the forest and the bridge best. Sometimes Natsume would chat a little with him, and Ponta would go looking for fish while the two leaned against the railings.

But Natsume wasn't the one he saw on halfway across the bridge, but Homura. His bag was on the ground, and… the guy himself was climbing on the railing and it didn't look like he was climbing on it for fun.

Tanuma quickly threw his bag aside and ran towards the teen, shouting his name and pulling him back just as he was starting to lean forwards. Both landed hard on their rears.

"Homura! What did you think you were doing? !" Tanuma cried.

"Oww… Huh…? Tanuma! What're you doing here? I thought you went back ages ago."

Tanuma's jaw dropped and he gripped the latter's shoulders. "Did you even know what could've happened?"

"What are you talking about? You were the one who suddenly pulled on me. Hard. Hard enough to bruise my butt."

The black-haired teen grew silent as he pondered. There was that strange feeling he noticed hanging around Homura again. It didn't feel like he could've been possessed, but that was definitely fishy. He swallowed and hesitated before uttering a spell he learned from one of his father's books under his breath.

Homura cringed and dropped his head, leaning sideways towards Tanuma, breathing harshly. "What… is this…"

Tanuma narrowed his eyes as that just confirmed his suspicions that the supernatural were involved again. He was also alarmed at how quick it took for another youkai to fix its eyes on Homura even though he was only recently 'cleansed'.

He noticed something glowing from out of the corner of his eye, and turned his head to look. It was coming out of Homura's school bag. He supported Homura with one arm and reached out for the bag with the other, digging his hand in it and taking out the glowing object. His brow furrowed when he saw that it was just an ordinary charm, and suspected that maybe his spell didn't work. If a person is possessed, he or she should've fallen into a delirious state and the person who performed it should've been able to see a faint outline of what they were possessed by. Homura certainly was delirious, but no matter how Tanuma squinted there was nothing hovering around him. But instead… He wrapped his fingers around the charm and refocused on Homura.

His breathing was slowly going back to normal, so the effects must be wearing out. Tanuma waited patiently until he recovered enough to sit up by himself.

"What was that?" he asked breathlessly.

"Sorry. You were acting weird so I decided to test you."

"Test me? For what?"

"I was checking to see if you were possessed again."

"… And?"

"You weren't, but, ayakashi has something to do with this."

Homura sighed. He didn't intend to ask how Tanuma got his hands on spells like this, but he was a priest's son after all. Maybe his father had taught him a few things. "What was I doing earlier? You know, before you pulled me back."

"You were going to jump off the bridge," Tanuma answered immediately.

"Haa? ! For real? !" Homura peeked at the waters below. It didn't look like the current was strong, though it would've been dangerous had it rained heavily. "I-I can't swim," he gulped.

"Looks like you owe me one then, huh?" Tanuma smiled and got up, offering a hand to Homura. Soon after they had gathered their bags and started walking, Tanuma showed the charm to him. "Who gave this to you? And when?"

"There was a lady I met on the way to school today." Homura blushed as he thought about it. "I uh, fell down in a really embarrassing way. She helped pick up my keys and gave me this. Then she left."

"A lady? Are you sure it was a human?"

"Y-You mean it wasn't?"

"This charm had a youkai's presence. I think she's trying to get close to you, that's why she gave you this. It's what people call an 'attachment'." Tanuma put the charm into his pocket, earning an odd look from Homura. "I'll hang on to this for a while. You never know when you'll have a death encounter again."

"O-Oh. How about we simply throw it away then?"

Tanuma shook his head. "Many things could happen. For now let's both just get home and think this out first."

"Okay." They reached the fork where they separate and Homura said goodbye before walking off while Tanuma watched on. He was just about to continue his remaining walk home before he heard a thud; he turned and saw Homura sitting on the ground. He jogged to the teen.

"Homura! Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. It's just… something suddenly washed over me…" He reached up a hand to his head.

Tanuma fished out the charm from his pocket and stared at it. "Could it possibly be because of this?"

"Eh? You've got to be kidding me! If I keep that close to me I'll drown in my own bathtub next!"

Tanuma considered a few stuff before deciding. His father was on one of his business trips again, so nobody was at home. He couldn't leave Homura all alone less he do something stupid again. He couldn't really tell Natsume, either.

"Okay. How about this. You go home first while I pack up my stuff. Would you mind if I spend the night over today? It's for your own good, after all."

Homura nodded.

* * *

_A few days later…_

"Natsume! I thought it was your turn to look after him today!" Tanuma cried as he jogged over to the silently panicking teen.

"I-I didn't realize he ran away… Suzuya's looking for him too…"

"Do you have any idea where he might've gone?"

"You don't think he went near any cliffs or anything, do you?"

Tanuma paused as he thought of something Homura had said to him a few days ago when this started. Dread filled him.

"N-Natsume, it was raining quite heavily yesterday right?" He didn't wait for Natsume to answer.

"The first time Homura tried to kill himself, he was going to jump off the bridge near my home. He told me he can't swim."

* * *

_**Oooh~ Cliffhanger! XD Oh well. I hope Tanuma wasn't too out of character 'cuz I made him a little more informative… I'll be gone for a week starting this Sunday, so I thought I might as well update now before I leave. I wouldn't be able to gain any access to Internet-sama then~ TT_TT **_


	14. Chapter 14

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 14_

_Broken Free  
_

_Homura, Homura, where are you? ! _Natsume screamed in his mind as he and Tanuma tore through the forest path, heading straight towards the river. He felt worried more than ever now, because it had rained last night so if anything, the river would be swollen and, of course, there would be a powerful enough current to drown somebody.

Things had happened too fast for all of them; all of a sudden, Homura had an 'attachment' after just being possessed. Tanuma came to him for help and demanded that they stop avoiding each other already, keeping a sharp eye on Homura. He'd told him that some youkai had probably given Homura a charm that instantly created a bond between human and ayakashi. For some reason he would try to kill himself every once in a while, that was why he needed to be under watchful supervision.

A few days ago Tanuma had slept over at Homura's house, the first day it started. They ended up staying up the whole night, curled up on the sofa. Tanuma honestly couldn't believe how Homura paused while peeling apples and brought the knife dangerously close to his throat; or when he suddenly stopped splashing around in the bath, and when Tanuma slid open the door slowly, found him with his head submerged in the bathwater; or when he pulled out a penknife from out of nowhere and tested it on his wrist. All without realizing anything. All that pulled him out of his 'suicidal state' was a good hit or a shake from Tanuma.

Since then they had taken turns looking after Homura. Natsume had tried to get hold of Suzuya, but he never knew where he lived or how to call him. Nyanko-sensei, on the other hand, blatantly refused, no matter how Natsume tried to persuade him, though somewhere along the way Taki sensed that something was going on and helped a little. Homura politely told her to not hang around much, since Taki would squeeze him hard if he tried anything funny. Or pinch him. Homura didn't like being a human teddy bear.

They had made a little experiment too, since it all started with a charm, Taki suggested throwing it away, and tossed it down the little slope where they were at that moment. Homura immediately lost his footing and fell down, eyes wide and gasping. Natsume retrieved the charm and Homura regained his composure again. Seems that he couldn't be separated from it too far, so Tanuma advised that he keep it close at all times.

Then earlier that day, they had their schedules mixed up, and when Natsume looked for him at Tanuma's house, he wasn't there. Both panicked and searched all over the place, but there were tons of places he could've gone, so Tanuma suggested checking at the river.

Natsume huffed as he tried to keep up with the taller male's pace. Suddenly Tanuma slowed down.

Natsume caught up to him. "What's wrong?" he asked breathlessly.

"… This is pointless. He could've gone anywhere. So I think it's better if we split up." Tanuma paused and looked around. "I'll go that side, okay. You check out the river first. We'll meet up in half an hour, here."

Natsume reluctantly nodded his head, not really wanting to be left alone, but it was the most sensible thing to do. He hung around long enough to see Tanuma skipping over tree roots and rocks, then took a deep breath and went on to the bridge.

He soon arrived and looked around, but found nobody, nor any trace of Homura having been there.

"Oh my," a smooth masculine voice said from behind.

Natsume's eyebrows shot up his forehead as he recognized the voice, and turned around fast. _This voice, it's…!_

"Hello there, boy. We meet again," Matoba Seiji smiled from where he was leaning against a tree, with an unconscious Homura propped up next to him.

"Matoba…!" Natsume moved a step forward. "Why are you…?"

His smile grew wider as Matoba stood up straight in a more formal way. "No need to look at me that way, boy. It was pure coincidence that I passed through here today. But I guess it was luck on your behalf that I stumbled upon him." He chuckled, and held out his palm for Natsume to see. "I took care of it."

Natsume's eyes widened when he saw what was definitely the charm, torn to pieces. He took a step forward. "If you do that he'll…!"

"—be alright," Matoba finished, lowering his hand and letting the remains of the charm flutter slowly to the ground. "There's nothing left around him. Well, now that you're here and looking like you know this boy, I'll be making my leave now. Having to accompany him here until he wakes up or until somebody comes has unfortunately created a slight disturbance to my plans." He bent down and picked up an umbrella and a bottle of water, then started to walk in Natsume's opposite direction. "If you will excuse me," he said, slightly bowing. "I do hope we meet again. And I suppose meeting Natori Shuuichi won't be such a bothersome matter once in a while either. Help me relay the message to him if you see him, won't you?" With that and a light smile, he left.

Natsume watched him leave, eyes scanning the area to make sure the leader of the Matoba clan didn't leave anything behind, then when he was sure, practically pounced on Homura, shaking him slightly. In the back of his mind he mildly considered the possibility that what Matoba just did meant owing him a favor, but he quickly dismissed it.

"Homura, Homura!"

"Nn…?" Said teen blinked confusedly, a hand reaching up to massage his temple. "What are we doing here?"

Natsume broke into a relieved smile. "It's okay now! The charm broke. You're free."

"… Ah. Glad to hear that. Killing myself when I don't even realize what I'm doing is a creepy thing." Homura shuddered, sitting up in a more comfortable position. "And being clobbered by you, Tanuma and Taki all at once is downright _horrible_." _Especially when Tanuma slapped my cheeks. Ah, I remember. I was feeling pretty hurt when he did that. _

Homura was smiling, but he wasn't so sure he felt 'happy' inside. Relieved, yes, but there was something else nagging at his mind that he couldn't easily ignore. These past few days, he had been trying to kill himself. His hand subconsciously went to his stomach, where that unmistakable scar was engraved. _I don't feel the same as that time, though. … Hmm? Does that mean that… I don't want to die anymore at this moment…? _Homura's eyes grew wide as he looked up at Natsume who was talking away and at Tanuma, who had just joined them.

… _Seiji… _His hands tightened into fists. _I think… you have to forgive me… for not joining you earlier. I don't think I'd be able to do it now. I met with people with similar situations to mine, and they made me feel I'm no longer alone. _Homura's eyes slipped shut for a few seconds, taking in the scene before reopening them. _If you were still here then maybe you'd understand a little of what I was going through this whole time, and maybe you'd be great friends with these guys too. _

_I won't ever forget about Seiji. So Seiji should be a little more patient and wait for me to come join you. _A little smile crept to his lips as he felt a strange but welcoming peace fill him up inside. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in months. A kind of feeling he thought he would never be able to get to know again.

_Yup. I made friends. _

"… Hey guys, after this do you wanna go to—" Homura stopped short when something whizzed past his face and met the bark of the tree he was resting against. All three froze and turned their attention fully to the embedded arrow, with a piece of paper tied around it.

"W-What… was that…?" Tanuma asked nervously. He never got an answer since both Homura and Natsume were pretty shaken up themselves, an involuntary shiver starting to crawl up their spine at the obvious malicious vibes surrounding the foreign object.

With hesitation, Homura pulled out the arrow and placed it beside him—for now, later on he would probably toss it into the river below, surely no one would be able to find such a thing in its depths—and unfolded the piece of paper. The trio instantly leaned in to see what was written, with Natsume dreading the fact that it might be Matoba demanding something in return for helping Homura or even Natori.

"'I know what happened. I'll have you know that I will be back to skewer you on a big dango stick when I return. Reflect on your clumsy idiotic actions for the moment. Note: Be sure to keep some sweets in stock for me or I will pound you into a rice cake too. Well then. Suzuya.'" Homura read, hands shaking with anger as he read and reread the note. His two friends beside him exchanged nervous looks with each other.

"A… Ahahahahaha," Natsume laughed. "See, he's around after all. Though I guess it was intentional that he avoided my calls for help. I guess he just wanted to watch…"

Homura gritted his teeth and crumpled the note furiously into a ball. "Who do you think I am you stupid bird…!" he shouted, not caring whether said tengu heard it or not. "Like hell I'll let you bully me when you didn't even step in to lend a hand! I'll store some bittergourds for you when you 'return' from whatever shitty business you're up to!"

Tanuma winced inwardly at the harsh words Homura was shouting, but he thought it was fair enough. Suzuya _was _kind of mean not to help even though they had been in so much trouble. He couldn't really say the same about Natsume though, who was frantically trying to calm him down. Disregarding the situation, he started to laugh, and after considerable confused looks, the other two joined as well.

* * *

_**Uhh… It's a lot shorter than usual, but I'm feeling lazy. =w=" And I know this chapter is cheesy but I hope you liked it. D: And I just love Suzuya. I think I like him even better than Homura! Well then, I'm planning out what they look like, and if you're interested in seeing it then just let me know! But please be aware that I only recently figured out how to lineart. And even so it's so messy I'm starting to dread the coloring… And SAI isn't in my computer, it's in my mom's, so I practically gotta beg to use it. Oh well. If it's so hard then I guess I can just ask my friend to scan it to her computer and I'll just upload that on DA. All in all it has to wait until next year when school opens. Or, uh, later than that... [looks away]  
**_

_**Bye bye for now~! ^_^**_


	15. Chapter 15

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 15_

_Cupcakes and Winged Apathy_

* * *

Homura leaned back against the couch and heaved a huge breath, holding out the piece of paper Suzuya had 'conveniently' left him with above him, his eyes half-lidded. The paper was crinkled from when he balled it up, and the ink was slightly messy, but he could read the characters. Honestly he had expected your average youkai scrawl where you can't even be sure where it started or ended, but what was written in the paper was clearly Japanese, even though it wasn't that neat.

"What do you mean by 'skewering me on a dango stick', you bastard…" he muttered, then closed his eyes and lowered his hand. "God, I'm so tired. Haa… Should I just sleep like this…?"

As if to object his choice of sleeping on the sofa, his cell phone next to him rang and vibrated. Homura reached for it, flipped it open and pressed it against his ear without cracking open an eyelid.

"…Hello?"

"Oh, hey Homura~! It's me, it's me!" a voice too loud and vibrant for his liking at this time of night rang in his ears.

"Nishimura… What is it?"

"Aww, you sound so tired, Homu-cha~an! Haha! What's wrong, were you staying up all night reading—"

"If you don't say what you want to say, I'm hanging up," he cut in.

"Oooh, sounds like you're _really _tired. Oh well, I just called to remind you to bring all the stuff we talked about earlier. We don't want any forgotten items!"

"Ahh, the materials needed for cooking class tomorrow?"

"Yeah! Man, what were they _thinking_, letting us guys _cook_? ! I would've preferred woodwork a hundred times better than this!"

Homura smirked. Just as he had thought, Nishimura was that type of guy. "Don't you think that's a little harsh to me? I mean, I cook, you know."

"Nope. You're different. You cook 'cuz you _want _to cook. I don't."

"Aww~ Then I guess you won't be able to let _Taki_ have a taste of your cooking right? A~ah. You're wasting such a golden opportunity," he said, emphasizing Taki's name.

He heard a dramatic gasp from Nishimura's end. "You're _right_! I totally didn't think about that! Akatsuki-sama! I feel so blessed you're in our group! You're our one and only shining star!"

"Eww, what do you mean by that? Besides, I think Natsume would be a pretty decent cook too. Kitamoto too, I guess. You're the only one who— Nishimura, if anybody should be the one dragging us down, it'd be you."

"Aaaaaaaaah! How cruel! Do you see me as the kind of guy who makes stupid mistakes?"

"Yes, I see you as the kind of guy who makes _ridiculously _stupid mistakes."

"That's enough! Even though I went out of my way to call you and remind you about tomorrow, you completely crushed my good intentions!"

Homura chuckled. "If anybody should forget about their materials, it'd also be you, Nishimura."

"Uuuuu… Fine! You'll all see my hidden potential tomorrow! I'll see you at school! Good night!"

"Good night, Nishimura…"

Homura laughed a little after their call ended. _What does he mean, 'hidden potential'? No, it's more like… I can already predict all his slip-ups…_

* * *

As expected, Nishimura made a _lot _of silly mistakes. Like mistaking normal wheat flour for high-protein bread flour. Why he even _brought _bread flour with him was a mystery to Homura. And that wasn't all. He spilled flour and sugar all around when he sifted them. He wanted to try mixing the batter with the mixer and put it on high-speed even though Kitamoto had reminded him early on not to.

Homura sent his condolences for Nishimura's future wife in his mind.

_Huh, well, at least he didn't forget anything, _he thought, checking over his friends' progress on spooning the cupcake mixture in the multi-colored paper cups.

Yes, yes, the guys were all in the cooking class. Apparently the school made the guys go for cooking class and the girls to woodwork sometimes, just like Homura's previous school did. Four guys were in one group, and Homura, Kitamoto, Natsume and Nishimura were, without question, in the same group.

Today they were making cupcakes. Homura felt that he had no trouble at all since he was used to cooking, and he did have a sweet tooth so all those baking recipe books arranged neatly in his bookshelf hadn't gone to waste. Unsurprisingly, both Kitamoto and Natsume seemed to be doing fine, carefully following the recipes and turning to him for help whenever they needed it. And as expected, Nishimura did things his own way, spontaneously.

Time passed by as the room filled with sweet smells, startled 'ah's and frustrated 'oh come on's. By then they were already on to decorating their cupcakes, and, guys being guys—at least, ones even remotely like Nishimura—frosting made a mess on their counters.

"Done," said Homura with a satisfied smile on his face, setting his piping bag down.

"Wow, yours are so beautiful!" Natsume cried. Kitamoto nodded.

"Haha, thanks! By the way, who are you giving your cupcakes to?" he asked, ignoring Nishimura's annoyed 'arrrrgh' when he applied too much pressure on his piping bag, disturbing his otherwise somewhat okay pattern.

"Oh, I'm going to give it to Touko-san and Shigeru-san," Natsume answered immediately and without hesitation.

"The Fujiwaras, huh?" Kitamoto ruffled his hair. "You're such a good boy, Natsume! Well, I'm either going to eat it myself or wait until I get home. But I guess I'll ask my family whether they wanna eat it."

"Me, me! I'm gonna give 'em to Taki-chan!" Nishimura exclaimed, having finished with his and slapped his piping bag down on the counter, causing some of the leftover frosting to ooze out of the nozzle a little.

"Nobody asked you, Nishimura," Homura said with an edge to his voice.

"Whaaaat? You wanna say that again, Akatsuki?" the brown-haired teen scowled. "What is wrong with you anyway? You've been mean to me ever since yesterday when I called!"

"First of all, nobody calls _that _late at night and screeches through the phone. Second, nobody brings bread flour when we don't even _need _it. Third, I've never seen anybody actually ignore the recipe when it's right in front of their eyes. Want more?" Homura teased.

"Okay, fine! I admit, I made a lot of mistakes. But it was all because of these cooking classes!"

Homura rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm going to eat mine by myself at home afterwards," he continued his previous conversation with Natsume and Kitamoto as if the exchange with Nishimura had never been made.

"Hey!"

* * *

Twigs and dead leaves crunched under his feet as Homura walked in the forest, bag slung on one shoulder and the box of cupcakes in his hand. He walked on for a little while before he stopped, at the place where he and Suzuya usually met, just off the trail. He raised his eyes and scanned the thick greens of the leaves high above him, trying to see if the tengu was there.

"Suzuya?" he called out. "I've got some cupcakes with me. They're really good. And sweet."

He waited for an answer, or even a telltale flutter of leaves or wings.

But, like it had been all week, Suzuya never answered. Homura had come by and called for him every day since the note from said tengu had been delivered—along with a very, very deadly arrow—but he was never there. Suzuya never did actually say when he was going to 'return', that was why Homura kept on coming, just in case.

"If you're not there, I'm eating all of this by myself, you know," he said again. He counted up till five in his head and turned. "Okay then, bye."

He didn't mind if he had to finish all of them. He didn't feel any pity for the tengu for not being able to taste them too.

Suddenly, he heard a flap of wings—ash-gray, he hoped—and snapped his head around, searching for the one who had made the sound.

Instead, he saw nothing, and deemed it was either his imagination or some other normal bird. When he turned once again, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he came face-to-face with a head that was upside down.

The youkai—of _course _it was a youkai, no human could ever have floated upside down unless he had his knees wrapped around a branch, and Homura knew there was no branch low enough above him—kept a face of apathy, unimpressed by the way Homura had a silly expression on his face and almost dropped his box of cupcakes.

Homura froze, his mouth hung slightly open. He backed a step and his upper torso made contact with cloth and limbs, which he expected was the youkai's thighs and knees. He guessed that the youkai had come up behind him and bent over his head.

"…What?" the human asked lowly after a good few seconds of staring at each other. The question seemed to alert the youkai—a flash of recognition flitting across its warm brown eyes.

"Have you seen Hiyo?" it asked, a smooth, light voice which Homura thought would be perfect for singing.

"Hiyo?" he repeated, dubiously.

"Hiyo," it confirmed with a single nod that made its hair sway with the motion.

When Homura's brows drew together with confusion the youkai made a flip and landed on the ground, facing him. He noticed that he—well, it looked like a male—had brown hair and equally brown eyes that shone in the warm sunlight. His hair was longish, was tied up loosely with thread and the brown ends hung down his shoulder. He guessed it would barely reach his shoulder blades if it were untied. He had a handsome face and wore a simple moss-green yukata. This youkai had wings, too. Amber brown ones, which he had tucked neatly behind his back.

"Um, look, I don't know who 'Hiyo' is. Why don't you go ask some other youkai instead of me?" he said hesitantly. Homura wasn't sure whether this youkai was a tengu, like Suzuya, but he didn't want to be around if it decided to attack him.

"You don't know Hiyo?" he asked, canting his head, that apathetic expression ever present.

"No. No, I don't."

"But you have his smell," he said, frowning. "Even for a human, you have Hiyo's scent. Lead me to him." His tone was soft, but seemed commanding. Homura made a mental note to go about this carefully, since people like this were usually the ones who you should be scared of the most. The things they would do when they're raged. He shivered. Natsume, Natori Shuuichi and Tanuma all fitted into that category, although they were not likely to blow up blindly in the first place.

"Like I said, I don't know this 'Hiyo'."

The youkai looked as if he were a child who'd just lost his favorite plaything. "… I see. Should I tell you about him, then? See if you can recall him?"

Homura's eyes widened. He sure seemed desperate in wanting to seek out 'Hiyo'. He mildly felt that Hiyo seemed to be a girl's name, but the youkai had clearly said it was a 'he'.

"How do I know you're not just fooling me? How do I know whether you're going to eat me when I let my guard down?" he questioned.

"I have no interest in eating a human. They're really interesting beings. And besides, I look partly human myself."

_...True, _Homura thought. Suzuya had said he didn't feel the need to eat humans himself, either.

"Fine then." He turned to the direction of the lake where he and Suzuya frequented. "Come this way, at least we'll be able to sit."

They walked silently for a while, Homura leading the way, sensing those brown eyes boring holes behind his back. He shook his head lightly. Nah, the youkai probably was just curious about him.

Upon reaching the lake, Homura sat down on the grass, setting his bag and box of cupcakes beside him, while the youkai chose to stand, eyes fixed on the glittering water.

"So, what's he like?"

"He looks like me," he said simply. "But his hair, eye, and wing color are all different. We met some time ago, but he suddenly disappeared from the tree we shared, and after asking around, he was spotted to be around this area. I realized instantly that was true when I smelled him, but he is nowhere to be found. I hope I find him soon. He is pretty reckless."

Homura raised an eyebrow. _It can't be… After all, he was nameless when I met him… _

"But I don't particularly mind if you can't help me find him, boy. I can ask other youkai who might know. You are, after all, just a human. Though I do find the fact that you can see us quite interesting." He frowned. "What is that smell?"

"What smell?"

"That smell. That sweet smell. It comes from you."

"Oh. You mean this?" Homura held up the box, and opened it, revealing sumptuous-looking cupcakes. "They're called cupcakes. It's a human dessert."

The youkai bent down curiously and blinked at the bright colors. "This is a dessert?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Is it… delicious?" he asked hesitantly, a flush creeping on to his cheeks. Homura could hardly hold himself back from smirking. There was a bit of Suzuya in there, the part that loves food. Only this one was more humble than the acerbic bastard ever could.

"Of course it is. You're free to try one if you want."

He nearly laughed when that lost expression rose up to hide that apathy as the youkai's eyes darted from one cupcake to the other.

"You can choose whichever one you like, you know. I don't mind."

After a few seconds the youkai finally settled on one and bit gingerly into it, albeit still managing to get some frosting on his nose. It was then that Homura noticed he had a mole, a dot at the corner of his left eye. His eyes widened slightly and he bit into it more and more, obviously liking the sweet foreign taste. Homura kept on watching him eat until he heard the unmistakable sound of paper tearing. He immediately reached out to stop the youkai.

"Hey, stop!" The youkai's eyes were set incredulously on his face as Homura lowered the hand holding the cupcake, softly nudging his fingers away, and peeled away the paper cup. "You have to peel this off, you know. You can't eat this." He placed the paper back into the box and gave the half-eaten cupcake back to him. "Here."

The youkai finished his cupcake and licked his fingers. "Thank you. It was very good," he said when he finished. Homura would've thought it very kind of the creature had there been no frosting still there on the tip of his nose. He fished out his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his nose clean.

"Want some more?" he asked.

"But… I… already ate one."

"Haha! One is never enough! Besides, I can't finish all of this." He gestured to the remaining seven cupcakes. He told him to eat and he picked out another one, this time carefully peeling off the paper cup first and giving it to Homura.

"Hey, do you have a name?"

The youkai froze, and looked at him. "Why would you want to know?"

_What is with youkai and their apparent refuse at giving out their names? _Homura thought. "Nothing, just… how would I call you if I have something to tell you next time?"

He seemed to think for a while. "You're right. It's Suzume."

_It sounds close to Suzuya. _"I'm Homura. What kind of youkai are you?"

Suzume looked at him as if he'd just asked what color the sky was. "A bird youkai. To be specific, a sparrow."

_Of course. Suzume does mean sparrow. _"Hmm. Okay then. I'll call for you if I catch word about that 'Hiyo' guy, all right?" Homura placed two more cupcakes—Suzume seemed to like the ones with more frosting on the top better—and got up. "If it's alright with you I'll go back now. It's getting kinda late. I have school tomorrow."

Suzume eyed the cupcakes with a little delight before looking up to the word 'school'. "'School'?" he repeated.

"A place where human children study. Sadly it's compulsory so everyone has to go."

"Will you come back tomorrow?"

… _I'll check on Suzuya again before coming here. _"Yes. I'll bring some more food with me, okay?"

Suzume's eyes widened.

"No, I'm not bringing any more cupcakes. I'll bring something else that's delicious too," he added as soon as the winged youkai's face smoothed out into that apathetical expression again. It seemed to be his everyday face, that expression. He soon left the youkai to finish up his treats.

* * *

Homura set his bag heavily down on his desk with a sigh. He should have never made a promise to bring delicious food the next day after just meeting someone when he never had any desserts in his house in the first place. Thanks to that stupid little mistake he had to thumb through some cookbooks for recipes that looked simple and didn't have to take much time in making. At first he'd only intended to make some for Suzume and keep some for himself, but he thought he should just make some for his friends as well.

In the end he settled for four different kinds of cookies, so he could mix them all up and split them, wrapping them up in those little gift pouches you find in certain shops. Meh, the pouches looked like something a girl would wrap her chocolates in and give it to her guy, but at least he'd picked a darker color.

All those pouches would explain the heaviness in his bag.

He was glad he didn't decide to make something heavier and much harder to handle instead.

Natsume chuckled from his seat beside him. "What's wrong? Homeroom hasn't started and already you're sighing."

Homura sat down with a huff. "Well, blame it on the youkai I met yesterday."

"You met a youkai yesterday?" Natsume asked, concern finding its way into his voice. "Did it do something to you?"

"Oh no," he replied, shrugging. "He was asking me whether I saw his friend Hiyo."

"Oh?" Natsume leaned in closer, curious.

"It was a sparrow youkai, and his name's Suzume."

"Haha, sounds pretty close to Suzuya, doesn't it."

"Yeah! I thought that too. He had wings too, you know? Anyway, I tried to shake him off and gave him a cupcake instead." A smirk formed on his lips. "He didn't know what it was and accidentally tore the paper cup with his teeth; he thought he could eat that too."

"Hmm~ So I guess he's a good youkai then?" _That way I won't have to worry, _Natsume added in his mind.

"I don't know… He seems like the quiet kind of guy, but then he could sound scary and practical and be funny at the same time. But he's mostly good, I think. Are you free after school? Maybe we can go meet him. Maybe you know who the youkai called Hiyo he's looking for is."

Natsume nodded. "Okay. By the way, where's this sweet smell coming from?"

"Oh! Here," Homura said, unzipping his bag and revealing the plentiful pouches within. "I made cookies for everyone. Ah, well, not e_veryone_, but…"

Natsume laughed. "No, I understand. Thanks," he said when Homura placed a pouch in his palm. "Wow, you're really good at cooking, aren't you?" He held it up to eye-level and peered at the contents. "Your girlfriend must be very lucky," he teased.

Homura flushed. "I don't have a girlfriend and you know that, Natsume."

"What, what? What's this about a girlfriend?" Sasada appeared behind them, hands on her hips. "Ah, cookies! Oh my gosh they look so cute!" she gushed.

That only made Homura flush deeper. "H-Here, this one's for you." He gave another pouch to her, looking away. "I made some for my friends."

"Really? Thanks! Haha, here I thought that maybe your girlfriend made them for you! You're quite popular here, after all!" _Like Natsume-kun_, she added.

"Popular? Who's popular?" Nishimura's voice rang out as he arrived with Kitamoto.

"It's nothing. Here, for you guys." Kitamoto said a word of thanks while Nishimura excitedly grabbed his pouch, earning a kick when he considered marrying Homura. "Hey, how about considering becoming _Nishimura _Homura? Haha—_hey! _I was just kidding, man! Gimme a cute girl over the likes of you any day!"

The day went on, and when it was afternoon break he presented the gifts to Tanuma and Taki, who both thanked him. Taki gushed over the cookies just like Sasada did, even asking him where he'd bought the pouches and if he could recommend some recipes—if it's not much trouble. He said he would, soon, all the while thinking why on earth would girls be this excited over somebody giving them cookies. Well, it is, to be expected, rare for a guy to give cookies to girls when it's not White Day.

Soon school ended and they made their way to the forest, Homura leading the way. They went to Suzuya's usual spot first, with Homura calling out to him along with the sweet promise of cookies, but he hasn't returned yet, so they went to the lake. Suzume appeared after just one call; he had obviously been waiting for Homura to come, the way he turned up was just too quick.

Homura was just about to introduce him to Natsume when he took several steps back, face molding into one of doubt, frowning at the lighter-haired human.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. He's my friend, and he can see you too. His name is Natsume. Natsume, Suzume." Natsume smiled politely, but Suzume still seemed cynical.

"… He smells of beasts," he said, his voice low.

"Suzume!"

"No, it's okay. I think he means Sensei." When Homura turned to look confusedly at him, he continued: "Sensei's true form is a beast. A big one, at that."

"Oh. Well, it's really alright, Suzume. Natsume's a good person."

It wasn't easy to persuade him to come closer, but Homura managed in the end—with the magical help of cookies—and Suzume explained once again about Hiyo, though his explanation was vague.

Natsume looked at Homura meaningfully from the corner of his eye, and Homura nodded. So Natsume thought it might be Suzuya too. But said tengu wasn't there with them at the moment, so it was impossible to tell.

Suzume was fumbling about with the pouch, not knowing quite how to open it. Homura opened it for him, and there was that spark of delight again as he munched on the cookies.

"Are you going to be here for some time, Suzume?" he asked after some time.

"Yes. I think. I want to find Hiyo first. I spent ages searching for him. He is quite a handful." Suzume shook his head.

"When exactly did he leave?" Natsume questioned.

"Some time ago. When I came home he wasn't there. I didn't want to leave our tree just like that—it's been our shelter for many years. So when some human cut it down last winter I started looking for him. Maybe I can stay with him again at his tree."

"Hmm~ You aren't angry at the person who cut down your tree?" After all, Natsume knew just how vengeful youkai can be. He hoped Suzume hadn't cursed the guy or anything.

"Not really. There were pleasant memories but that's all they were. Memories. Besides, I think Hiyo is much more important than an old tree," he finished with a stuff of a cookie in his mouth.

"Hey, I think I can recall something…" Homura started. Suzume's head snapped in his direction in mid-chew. "But that youkai isn't here right now. So when he comes back here, I'll take you to him, how's that?"

"I understand," he stated with a vehement nod.

"Well then, now that this is settled, we're going back, Suzume." Homura placed an extra pouch on the top of his head, just to see whether he'd be enticed. The youkai didn't smile, but there was a spirited fire burning in his brown eyes. "I think I'll come by tomorrow. No promises of any more sweets, though. I'll see whatever's available," he added.

They said their goodbyes and left the place, their steps lazy and slow.

"He seems like a nice guy, doesn't he?" Natsume said, munching on a cookie.

"Hmm, yeah. Are you going straight home?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Can I follow? Uh, that is, if you let me. I want to give some to Touko-san and Shigeru-san. Maybe some to the cat, if it's there," he said, patting his bag.

Natsume smiled at him and they walked on in comfortable silence.

* * *

"Damn," he cursed under his breath as he flapped his wings urgently, hand gripping his other arm, blood flowing down the length and dripping on the ground below. There was nowhere he could hide, nowhere he could really _run_, but there was no way he would just get on his knees and surrender. He sneaked a glance behind him, and still saw that mass of inky black darkness, its misshapen form shooting out repulsive makeshift arms, fingers clawing the air, wanting to get a hold on him.

At first, he'd made that offer, showing up out of the blue and looking at him as if he'd accept it with alacrity. Ah well. Foolish, foolish humans. This one was even more of an astronomical idiot than that Natori. At least Natori readied him with sweet smiles and scrumptious cafes, but this one would probably be more suited to sit in the cupboard and _stay _there.

He shook his head at the irony. Not long before he had threatened the piggy kitty's human with the involvement of Matoba, and now the leader itself had shown up with plans for _him_.

Splattering that gooey-looking substance wouldn't even make him break a sweat, but he wasn't totally sure there wouldn't be other traps lying around if he tried to counter. He was careless enough to let an arrow graze his arm. It was out of pure luck there weren't any spell whatsoever that came with it. Matoba was obviously toying around with him; Suzuya could tell he wasn't being serious.

After all, that was the main reason—actually, the one and only—why he hadn't been seeing Homura and the others for a while, if he drew Matoba's attention to them then that would be an entirely different problem. He didn't think anyone would be pleased to find out Matoba has a new human to stalk his pedophile eyes on.

Oh. No. _Eye. _

He glanced behind him once again, and flapped his wings faster, trying to get them off his tail so he can make a sharp turn and lose them. He was tired from this stupid chase, he was hungry—especially for Homura's food which he had grown accustomed to, _beware, human food blinds you once you're intoxicated_—and he had to do something about that bleeding arm of his. He wasn't about to donate free rich high-ranked blood to other snooping youkai.

* * *

_**Wow, another new character! Homura's troops are gathering now, I see! And oh no, Matoba is targeting Suzuya. D: Matoba isn't a pedophile, Suzuya. ;A; There's just a certain quality ever-present in Natsume that makes all the guys flock to him. -shot- **_

_**So. How do you like Suzume? Personally I find him cute. X3 **_

_**Oh, and Happy New Year, everybody! And hurray to those turning 16 this year along with me! **_

_**Note: Don't you think the chapter title is cool? =D I think it is!  
**_


	16. Chapter 16

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 16_

_A Shiki for Homura…?_

* * *

School had ended for the day, and everybody was gathering up their stuff, either going straight home, attending club activities or going somewhere else. Homura glanced at Natsume when he stood up.

"Are you free today? I was thinking of going to meet Suzume again," he said.

"Oh, sorry about that, Homura. I have… something to tend to," Natsume said apologetically.

A little concern weaved its way into Homura's eyes. He knew how Natsume is, and from the way Tanuma told him about him, every detail had 'complicated' attached firmly to it. "Youkai business?" he asked tentatively.

A nod confirmed it.

"Well then, that can't be helped. Call me whenever you need me alright? I wouldn't want you to fall down into a hole like last time."

Natsume laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." What Homura meant by 'last time' was when he was chased by some big youkai and stumbled upon Homura and Suzuya who were chatting at the time. In the end Homura ran with him, and by some rotten luck it so happened that Natsume wasn't looking where he was going and went straight into a hole. Suzuya had cracked up at that one, kept the youkai away when Homura yelled at him, and carried a stunned Natsume out and onto solid ground.

"Catch ya later, Natsume."

* * *

Homura kicked little stones and dried leaves idly, fingers crossed behind his head. Suzuya wasn't around, and neither was Suzume. So plainly speaking, he was bored. He found himself a little surprised at that. He never would have considered the thought of growing attached to youkai, the very beings who messed up his life.

But Suzuya and Suzume were different. Their characters depict them as 'not to be messed with', but they were still so nice to him. He thinks he understands what Natsume feels about Nyanko-sensei now.

Just when he thought he should stop wasting his time and go home and draw or watch TV or whatever, something crashed into him from behind, and not expecting such a thing, Homura stumbled and fell forward.

He turned his head around to find a short youkai with a wrinkled face and a white beard grabbing his head and moaning. He scowled.

"Oi."

The youkai looked up, and panicked, seeing a human. It got up, screeching 'Human! Human! More humans!' and scampered away.

Following the youkai until it was out of sight with his eyes, Homura raised an eyebrow.

_What did it mean by 'more humans'? I doubt Natsume'd be around this area, _he thought, and slowly got up too, eyes boring into the greenness from where the youkai had most probably come from. Curiosity getting the better of him—yes, it was always a bad habit, especially when you were most likely to encounter risky situations—he trudged on carefully.

"…Ah," he muttered after a few minutes. He'd only just realized that he'd been walking on and on and for some reason he found the forest eerily dark. There was sunlight, of course, but it was as if someone had tampered with the brightness-level settings and pitched it a little lower than what he preferred. He stopped and looked around. There was no sign of any other human other than himself. Narrowing his eyes, he wondered whether the youkai earlier was just messing with him.

_But I guess, _he thought as he resumed his slow pace, _it wouldn't be messing with me if it was that panicked. Why are some of them so afraid of humans anyway, when humans are the ones who should be afraid of them? _

He heard something snap, and raised his eyes to that direction behind him. He knew it wasn't a silly reason like him being the one who stepped on a twig since his foot was raised in mid-step. _Oh, please don't. _He braced himself for whoever—or whatever—it is, his grip on his bag tight, his muscles tense and his eyes and ears alert, ready to bolt at any sign of danger or meaningless trouble.

He felt his jaw drop once he saw that it was Suzuya who came crashing through the trees in full speed though. Just a teeny bit. After all, he expected bigger, more lethal youkai that was ready to eat him or something. Not that he actually wished for it, hell no.

He wasn't the only one surprised, it seemed. Suzuya came to a screeching halt, his wings spread wide to stop himself short and he hovered in mid-air as he gaped at Homura.

"Homura! ? What are you—" he suddenly broke off, and snapped his head back towards the direction from where he came from, his eyebrows drawing together in a grim expression. "Doesn't matter. Run!" he said urgently.

"What?" Homura breathed, baffled and helpless.

"Run! Now!"

He wished he had noticed the caked blood on Suzuya's arm and the way his clothes looked so ragged. If he had then maybe, just maybe, he would be able to will himself to move fast enough while loading the seriousness of the current situation at hand into his stupid brain.

With a flap of his wings, Suzuya had already started to fly ahead of him, and it was only then that his legs were able to move. He ran, eyes glued to the big beautiful wings that belonged to the youkai who was kind enough to slow down to his pace, although it was obvious he wanted to fly much, much faster.

Something quite unexplainable trapped him from behind when he was about to demand what the hell was going on. It looked like tendrils, all black and creepy and even if it also looked smoky and permeable it felt like it was strong enough to choke him to death. It covered his mouth, his chest, his arm, his legs, and a large part of it latched on to his abdomen and the sudden force pulled him backwards. With a feeble "mmph!" he fell on his back, his arm painfully held upwards, above him, and the… whatever it is clenched around him much tighter, and he whimpered with the pain, trembling.

Well, at least he fell on soft grass or he'd be much more irritable once he'd gotten out of this mess.

He heard noises which suspiciously sounded like more youkai—he was done guessing whether humans were around whenever creepy things start to happen now—rushing up behind him, and heard Suzuya shouting his name, heard a flutter of ash-gray wings, heard him coming closer.

He just wished the damn tengu would hurry up.

Finally reaching him, Suzuya cried "Homura!" and kneeled down by his side, trying to figure out how to release him before 'they' come. He tugged at the threads latched tight around his twisted arm, and with a strangled cry from the boy beneath him he stopped.

The tengu narrowed his eyes, and Homura thought he saw his hands glow with an ethereal blue, but couldn't care less when he saw that wherever Suzuya touched, the black threads thin out and snap. He gasped for much-needed breath once his mouth was free and let Suzuya tentatively reach out to free his arm and put it by his side.

He was only given a few seconds until Suzuya told him to get up and urged him on, this time folding his wings and letting them melt into his back—however he managed to do it Homura would never know—and running along with Homura, his grip tight around his wrist as he pulled him along.

"Su-Suzuya… What… on earth…" he gasped, his lungs burning and his feet pumped with adrenaline.

He saw a brief shake of the head as he replied a curt 'no'. Suzuya peeked behind them once in a while, but they were still on their trail. He cursed under his breath and made a dive for the bushes, dragging a bewildered Homura behind him.

They had been running for some time and with much speed that the human couldn't handle, and he was wheezing badly. Suzuya felt sorry for him since he ran a youkai's worth without bothering to think about what would happen. Well, _almost_. He kept his eyes open as he peeked through the openings in the leaves for Matoba's shiki, and when they came closer he muttered some sort of an apology and clamped a hand over Homura's mouth this time. Homura's fingers scrabbled at his hand, but he ignored it and hissed at him to try to breathe through his nose as quietly as possible. Soon the uneven heavy breathing smoothed out into more manageable ones, and Suzuya smiled wryly at him, earning a death glare in return.

The shiki shifted around, looking for them and before long, they moved on to another place.

"Don't. Shout. Or anything," Suzuya warned as he let go of Homura.

Homura shook him off roughly as he tried to take deep breaths to calm his pounding heart. "Damn, what _was _that! ? I know I wanted you to come back soon but not _this _way!"

"Huh. Looks like you're getting along fine even without me to look after you, eh runt?" he teased.

"Runt! ? You—"

"Shh." Suzuya got up and unfolded his wings again, absentmindedly shaking them free of stray leaves. "I'm going to check up on the situation. You stay here. Once it's safe I'll come back and get you, get it?"

"Oh no you're not going anywhere. Explain first!"

Suzuya scoffed and rolled his eyes as if the person in front of him was a nagging teacher. "Fine, fine. Matoba suddenly came up to me and asked me to become his shiki. Plainly put, I declined, but looks like he's pretty adamant. Now are you happy? But just in case you're thinking of something utterly stupid like coming with me to get him off my back, I suggest you stay put. Matoba is on a whole different level than Natori."

"But who's Matoba?"

"Uh, you'll know soon. Stay. Here." He pointed at the ground to accentuate his command, as if he was trying to make a dog understand that he wanted it to sit there and not move until he came back for it. He ignored Homura's scowl and turned away. "No matter what happens, stay here. And if I'm not back, just leave as you see fit. I can always look for you tomorrow. Well, if you _do _decide to go home instead then please prepare some food for me? I'm absolutely _famished_." He smirked.

"Hmph. Don't be surprised when all you get is rice balls without any filling, Suzuya."

With a wider smirk, he was gone, and Homura was left all alone. Sighing, he plucked away bits of leaves in his hair, then inspected his arm. He tested it out, and was glad it didn't seem to be sprained or worse yet, broken. He got on his knees and cautiously looked out from the top of the bushes, looking around to see whether Suzuya and the youkai had gone far. He neither saw nor heard nothing, so he shrugged and sat back down.

Matoba. Who was he? Was he the other human the youkai that bumped into him earlier meant? Can he see youkai? If so, then what does he do with them? Does he like them or help them as much as Natsume? Or does he hate them from deep inside his heart like himself, but finds unexpected comfort in some? Or is he like Natori, does he use them?

Questions bombarded his racing mind, but neither seemed to stick around long enough for he to contemplate any further.

But if Suzuya said Matoba wanted him to become his shiki, then he supposed Matoba is an exorcist of some sort like Natori. Weighing the chances, he took hold of his bag and stood up.

He might get butchered by Suzuya later on, but nobody can help it when curiosity takes over.

* * *

"My, wouldn't it be a lot easier on you if you'd just comply?" Matoba said with a smile on his face, arms crossed.

Suzuya scoffed. "As if." He eyed the few shiki of Matoba's left. He had crushed most of them already, but he couldn't be certain Matoba wouldn't conjure up more. "Why don't you just go away already? We've been keeping this up for days now and I haven't been eating properly. I'm hungry. So you should run before I decide on eating you instead, hmm?"

The nasty human chuckled. "No, I won't," he said softly, and raised his hand, a strip of paper between his fingers.

Suzuya braced himself, but widened his eyes in surprise when he saw movement to his right. There was Homura, charging straight towards him and when he was about to protest, he grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the way. The force from the beam that shot out of Matoba's charm threw him backwards and on the ground.

"Oww…" Homura muttered as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I've fallen down _three _times today, how stupid is that…"

"Oi! You… stupid…" Suzuya gritted his teeth. "I told you to _stay_!"

"Haa! ? I saved your sorry ass and you _yell_ at me? !" He jumped to his feet and glared at the tengu.

"Hah, I never asked for your help, boy."

"Then how much of an idiot can you be when you're _not _making a move to dodge that!"

"I don't need to dodge something I can easily brush off, stupid!"

"Ah, you're the one who…" The squabbling duo turned to the highly-amused exorcist, who was smiling. Homura noticed the long hair and the eyepatch. "I guess you won't know me, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Homura asked.

"Hmm, remember when you had a little… something attached to you? That charm? It was me who broke it for you."

The younger of the two drew his brows together in confusion. _Natsume never said anything… _

Matoba breathed a little sigh. "I've lost my drive. Fine, little tengu. You're free to do anything you want for the moment, but that doesn't mean I've lost my interest in you. Your addition to the Matoba clan will be very much appreciated. And for you too, boy. The fact that you're able to escape that unscathed means you're not an ordinary human." He smiled at Homura.

Suzuya elbowed him softly, and Homura looked sideways at him, a questioning look on his face.

"Do you have your bag?"

He raised his hand a little to show him he did.

"Oh, and one more thing… Would you kindly send my regards to—" Matoba broke off as Suzuya suddenly spread his wings, reached under Homura's arms and with a flap, they were in the sky.

"W-W-W-W-Whaaaaaa~! W-What…!" Homura yelled, legs kicking empty air as wind whipped through his hair and creating a ruckus in his ears.

"Shut up, Homura…" Suzuya said nonchalantly as he beat his wings to a steady rhythm. Truth be told he had no idea how to carry a human mid-flight—and it's not like he'd ever carried any other living being either, except Rie, but she was different because she hung on tightly to the hem of his kimono—so he was being a little cautious, handling Homura as if the boy was an awkwardly huge package.

"S-Suzuya let me down! I don't like this!" Homura let out a nervous whimper.

The tengu had to laugh at that. "Aww, you poor little boy. Why, afraid of a little height? I can go higher, you know."

"It's not 'cuz of the height but the way you're carrying me you bastard! One slip of your hands and it's over for me! What'd people say when they see somebody fall out of the sky—dead! ?" Homura struggled angrily some more before stopping when Suzuya got surprised and tipped to the side a little.

Thinking over that possible scenario, he laughed again. "That _is _very likely, isn't it… And sorry but I've never gave anyone a ride before so yeah, first time's always faulty. Can't help it."

Homura's fingers dug into his palm as his eyes were glued to the scene spreading before them. If it had been any other day—and other _position_—he would most probably marvel at the wide country sights, but now was a different matter. "Make sure you don't drop me, 'kay…" he grumbled.

"I won't. …Not if you answer me one question," he said after a short pause.

"What question?"

"Hey Homura, you're going to… no, you'll be… uh, why don't you… become my master," he finished the last part quickly and barely enough for Homura to hear and register it in his mind.

"_What?_"

"Like I said. Don't make me say it once more. Just answer, that's all you have to do."

"And if I don't?"

"I'll drop you," was the simple answer. "Well, the decision of whether or not to drop you depends mostly on your answer too, but with such a… simple-minded person like you I think I'll most likely drop you anyway."

"What the… you demon…"

"Nope. Not a demon. A tengu."

"… Why would you… want to become my shiki? I thought we weren't going to take one step further in this whole thing…"

"Did you seriously think you'd be able to just stay like the way you are two weeks ago? Sooner or later more and more youkai are going to know about you, and don't forget about Natori and Matoba. Natsume's already popular in this area; another youkai-seeing human is bound to get some attention. And I'll be the one to bust you out of any bad situation, no doubt."

"That's true, but…"

"But, you did kind of helped me out back there, and I don't think I'm the type that forgoes such reckless actions of rescue."

"Then is Nyanko-sensei Natsume's shiki?"

"The piggy kitty? No."

"You're willing to get mocked by him just because I saved you and you were indebted to me, so you decided to become my shiki?"

Suzuya gritted his teeth. Why do humans have to make everything so difficult with that messed-up logic of theirs? Just accept things as they are, not question them and make them more of an enigma!

"It's alright. If you don't mind, I mean. And uh, I don't really understand the whole concept so as long as I'm not tied down to anything, I guess it'd be okay…"

"What kind of half-assed answer is that, boy… You're fine with it? But you don't understand? But still you think it's okay? What do you think you're—" Suzuya started to raise his hands to further express his immense irritation, and realized the outcomes of it a little bit too late.

"U-Uwahh Suzuya, your hands are slipping…!" Homura's heartbeat speeded up tremendously when he no longer felt any fingers around him, nor the hanging cloth of Suzuya's kimono and began to fall downwards with gravity.

* * *

Natsume was looking for the cheeky youkai who had stolen his bag of potato chips and told him to come catch it, and still it wanted its name back. He had shaken his head and wandered around the trees, but he did find it in the end and returned its name.

Then he came across Tanuma and, surprisingly, Suzume trailing behind him. His eyes grew wide when he saw them, and he questioned Suzume, with Tanuma hurriedly looking behind him in search of the youkai Natsume was talking to.

"Ahh, you mean this little guy?" He held out his finger for the sparrow to perch on, and to Natsume it just looked like Suzume taking one step closer and bringing his wing to lightly touch Tanuma's finger. "I found him near my house, and he looked hungry so I fed him. Hee~ So this is a youkai?" The black-haired teen squinted at the little bird with a thread tied loosely around his neck, but other than that thread it didn't seem any more different than an ordinary sparrow.

Suzume raised his gaze to the shorter human. "He knows about youkai?"

Natsume nodded.

Suzume stepped away from Tanuma, probably did something, and by Tanuma's wide eyes Natsume assumed Suzume had let him see his form.

"Suzume, you already ate Homura's food and now you're stalking Tanuma?" Natsume asked.

"No I'm not. He hasn't come to see me yesterday, and today too. I was just strolling around when that sudden pang of hunger struck me out of the sky and into his yard."

All this he had said in a flat tone that makes it funny to Tanuma.

"Ahaha, you really are an interesting—" he was cut off when Suzume suddenly turned his head upwards and moved away from the humans a bit.

"… What's wrong, Suzume?" Natsume asked.

"Nothing. Just Homura," he replied, not tearing his gaze away.

The two humans looked upwards too, and true enough, there was Homura, screaming his way down.

"H-Homura? !" Tanuma stuttered.

Suzume held out his arms, and in a few seconds Homura dropped nicely into him. His scream was cut short as he lay stiff in Suzume's embrace.

"Good afternoon, Homura," the sparrow youkai greeted.

"S-S-Suzume… I'm saved…" Homura let out a panicky high-pitched laugh.

"H-Hey, what were you doing falling out of the sky like that?" Tanuma asked.

"Yo, Homura, looks like somebody caught you! Isn't that great?" Suzuya laughed as he landed beside Natsume.

"You're the one who…!"

"Hiyo," Suzume said softly, eyes wide.

All eyes turned to Suzuya. "Geh, i-it's you… How come…"

"Hiyo?" A smile crept on to his face as Suzume dropped Homura on the ground unceremoniously.

"Uwahh! What the… I'm gonna roast you both!"

Suzuya took a few steps backwards as Suzume advanced on him, an edgy smirk on his face. He spread his wings, ready to fly away, but didn't make it because Suzume had already wrapped his arms around him.

"Hiyo!" Suzume said happily, wings flapping in excitement, creating a wind for the three humans staring bewilderedly at them.

"Gaahh! Let go! Let go of me!"

Homura caught up to them both and slapped a palm on Suzume's shoulder. "_This_. Is Hiyo...?"

Suzume nodded.

"You _know _this guy, Homura? You know him and didn't tell me about it? !"

"How was I supposed to tell you about him if you were dragging me along on your little stupid running-flying marathon? !"

"All's well ends well," Suzume stated, face back into that apathetic mask again.

"It's not!"

* * *

Tanuma looked sideways at Natsume, who looked just about as confused as he is. "Natsume… what's going on?"

"Haha, who knows… By the way, are we the only ones who noticed that Suzuya's suddenly back?"

Tanuma chuckled. "Homura sure looks like he's been putting up with him every single day. I guess they caught up pretty quick…?"

Natsume shrugged.

"And Hiyo? Suzuya's name used to be 'Hiyo'?"

"I guess...?"

Both clamped their hands to their mouths as they tried to refrain from laughing, backs turned to the other three.

"Those two brats over there! Stop laughing!" Suzuya yelled.

* * *

_**Ahh well… I didn't exactly know how to end this chapter… XD But oh my gosh, did you guys watch the 2**__**nd**__** episode of the 4**__**th**__** season yet? ! A lot of MatoNatsu goodness in there, hnnnghh~ And the way Natsume put on Shigeru-san's old sweater was too cute! The sleeves were too long! Ngahh I can't wait for the next episode alreadyyyy… **_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Hmm, well even though it looks like a long chapter, it actually isn't. This is mainly a filler with tons of dialogue, but there are some important parts too. =D**_

_**Warning: A little spoiler at the end of my author's note at the bottom of the page, skip it if you don't want to know it.  
**_

* * *

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 17_

_Another Member in this Overpopulated Group  
_

After a blow to the head by Suzuya, Homura and Suzume finally calmed down enough to listen to his rants. Well actually, it was more than enough. Homura kneeled with gritted teeth, frustrated, and Suzume just looked as if the fist that was brought down to his head earlier was nothing compared to his evident happiness. Meanwhile Tanuma had already excused himself in a hurry, only then remembering that he to run an errand, and Natsume stood some ways off, glad he wasn't included in that kneeling group.

"Can't you just get over it already, Suzuya…" Homura grumbled.

"Yeah right! I went for just a number of days and already you had gotten yourself caught in a stupid mess _and _meet up with this guy!"

The tengu's angry tone didn't disconcert Suzume one bit, and Homura took notice of that. "You don't have to be so angry, look at him, he looks so happy!"

Suzuya's eyebrow twitched. "I did _not _leave my old home for no reason," he said darkly.

Suzume's eyes widened, before his shoulders drooped as he leaned forward and to one side. The ends of his wings brushed the forest floor dismally. "I see…" he said quietly. "So you left because you hated me…"

Homura gasped. "Oh my gosh, Suzuya, how rude can you be?" he asked.

"Breaking somebody's heart isn't what's considered to be a gentleman, Suzuya," Natsume played along.

Suzume didn't get the drift. "No, Hiyo's not rude. It's not his fault."

Homura canted his head as he looked at Suzume. "You're really something, aren't you? Defending a heartless bastard like that? I wouldn't." That earned a kick from the pissed off tengu. "Damn you, Suzuya…"

Suzuya huffed, arms crossed. "Look, I don't hate you, okay? That wasn't the reason why I left. You're not at fault, and I don't particularly dislike the fact that you looked for me, but I'm not going to go back with you."

"… Haha, ha, Hiyo hates me after all… I see, spending years looking for him was a meaningless effort, such a waste of time… No, time isn't that important a factor, I can live for a few hundred more years, I think… It's not like these past few years have taken a precious amount of time off my back… I see, I should go home now and forage for mushrooms… Ah, maybe I can give some to that old deity who lives in that shrine nearby… Ahh, mushrooms…"

Homura leaned away from the depressed Suzume a bit, and finally jumped to his feet and slapped Suzuya's back. "He's breaking down! Apologize!"

"Damn, why should I—" He looked up to Natsume, hoping he'd help him out of this ridiculous situation, but oh no, he just had to look at him the same way. _Damn all these people. _He sighed deeply. "Hey, I did say that I'm not going back, but if you're willing, you can stay here instead." He ignored Suzume's too quick of a reaction to gawk at him.

A smile crept to his lips. "Hiyo…"

"On one condition. Stop calling me Hiyo already," he said sternly.

That smile disappeared almost instantly. "No. Your name is Hiyo and will always be Hiyo."

Suzuya growled in aggravation as he scrubbed his hair. "I'm not a brat anymore! I have a new name now, and it's Suzuya!"

Suzume got up and inched closer to Suzuya. "Who named you?"

Suzuya pointed sideways at Homura. "I've just become his shiki today, but I've been named some time ago."

Homura noticed the way Natsume's eyes widened. He gave him a reassuring smile, promising him he'd spill all the details later on. It seemed like Natsume got the message.

Suddenly Suzume dropped to his hands and knees again, and bowed until his forehead met his fingers. "Please accept me as your shiki, Homura-sama."

"Wait, what? How'd it become this way?" he burst out, taking a step backwards.

Natsume scrunched his eyebrows. "That's it. I can't follow your conversation anymore. I'm heading back home, guys…"

"Wait, Natsume? ! You're leaving me with these two? Help me! I can't handle this by my own!"

"Sorry Homura. Touko-san will be very worried. I'll see you tomorrow," he replied with a smile, but his eyes were averted.

"You're just using Touko-san as an excuse! Argh, damn all this!" First Suzuya's sudden reappearance, then getting caught up with that icky black thing, then Matoba, then that horrific flying experience, now this? Homura felt like he was in a torture chamber along with Raoul and the Persian in _The Phantom of the Opera_.

* * *

He truly wished he was in the torture chamber now.

Bringing both Suzuya and Suzume back along with him probably wasn't such a wise idea, but he had to do something or he'd be expected to spend the night in the forest. He ignored the old lady's stare at the corridor—not to be rude, she really is a nice person who greeted him in the mornings—as he hurried the two along in their human forms.

Both had reverted back to their youkai forms once the door had been hut and locked. He had punched Suzuya when he didn't take his shoes off, sat them both in the sofa immediately before any of them had the chance to poke around, and settled his own butt in the armchair opposite them.

"Now, start explaining. What exactly is the relationship between you two, Suzume?" he asked. Yes, he addressed Suzume because if he had asked Suzuya instead, he would've gotten a bunch of useless, empty sentences. _Living alone in Yatsuhara for seventy years, my ass. It's obvious he came from another place now, ain't it? _

But Suzuya had a puzzled expression on his face. "'Suzume'? Since when have you been 'Suzume'?"

"What do you mean?" Now even Homura was getting confused.

"I'm sorry, Homura. I'm not a sparrow youkai and my name isn't Suzume," Suzume admitted. "It was just a fake name."

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about it," Homura said sarcastically. Honestly, he had just about enough with all the names.

"This guy isn't even a bird youkai to begin with. He's a shape-shifter," Suzuya explained. "He maintained this look recently, but he's been a number of animals in the past. I used to call him Kinoko, 'cuz he was picking mushrooms when I first met him."

"Hmm~ So, how about starting from the beginning?" Homura suggested. He had to admit that he was a bit curious to know about their past.

"Years ago when I was out looking for food, I found this little baby bird. It was Hiyo. I think I was a cat then, and it was true I felt the urge to eat him…" Homura bit his lip to keep from laughing. "But then I got attached to him and made myself a sparrow so I could take care of him. We stayed in a tree. Then, he was gone when I got back from taking a bit of food from the village… I was pretty worried then. I thought that maybe the child had found himself in the stomach of another youkai, or maybe he had fallen into a hole somewhere…" he sighed.

Suzuya's eye twitched, but he kept silent.

"How old are you, by the way?" Homura asked.

"Me? I'm about twice as old as Hiyo."

_Ooh. Over a hundred. _

"Oh~ So Suzuya, why _did _you leave?"

His cheeks reddened as he looked away. "You don't have to know about that."

_Eh? What? Seriously? Is he blushing? No way. _"Tell!"

"I got hooked on chasing a butterfly until I found myself in the middle of nowhere, okay!" he yelled angrily. "Kinoko never brought me out far so I had no way of finding my way back home! So I wandered around and settled down here instead! Happy! ?"

… _Priceless. This whole thing is priceless! _Homura broke into a fit of laughter, lying back against his armchair. "Oh my god, oh my god, you were… you were lost… Hahahahaha!"

"Enough!"

"I'm glad…" Suzume's—no, Kinoko's, Homura corrected himself—voice brought them out of their little argument. "I thought that Hiyo hated me, that's why he left, I'm glad…"

Homura froze for a second as he watched the two in front of him talking. _Is it just me or did it just become way livelier? Is it because of these two? If they weren't around, I would probably be losing myself in television around this time… _

"… Hey?"

Both fell silent and looked at him, expecting.

"If you… if you don't mind, why don't you consider living here with me?" he asked, a bit hesitantly at first, but slowly gathering enough courage within himself to at least try.

"Haaa? Live with _you_? I'd rather just—"

"You will cook for us too?" Suzume interrupted Suzuya.

Homura smiled. "Well, if you're going to be living with me, I have to, don't I?"

"… You won't expect us to become your slaves in return? Being your shiki doesn't mean you can order us around," Suzume asked seriously.

_Why the heck is this guy saying something that bastard tengu over there would probably have said? _"Disregarding that, are you sure you want to be a shiki too, Suzume? I don't have the need to 'own' you guys or anything, besides, Suzuya was the one who forced himself upon me. You don't have to force yourself to go along with his stupid decision, too," he said, ignoring Suzuya's 'oi'.

"As long as Hiyo is by my side, I am happy. I'm not forcing myself."

Homura sighed. "Fine. So be it."

"That's not enough, Homura. You should properly name him," Suzuya said.

"What? Do you have to give your shiki a new name every time?"

"Not really, but both the names Kinoko and Suzume are not 'official' names. They're just names we created on a whim. On the other hand, have him change into something else, too. Me being the only bird youkai here is plenty enough."

"Hm. What do you want to be, Suzume?" he asked. It felt weird, having that question come out of his mouth, as if he was asking a kid what he wanted to be when he grew up. It is like that, in a way.

"Anything you ask for is fine. But I'm only limited to animals. And I'd prefer it if you don't want me to be a fish or the like."

"But… I can't decide. You decide yourself."

Suzume's wings disappeared, and pinkish scales started surfacing his skin, and his eyes narrowed into slits. "A snake?"

"No. That's kinda creepy."

The scales melted away, replaced by mouse ears and a long tail.

Homura shook his head. Even though it looked cute, he considered the possibility of Suzuya bullying him by pulling that tail of his very seriously. Suzume looked too innocent, too adorable, he was willing to bet Suzuya wouldn't be able to resist teasing him one day.

The long, thin tail was replaced by a light-colored, fluffier one, as did the ears.

Being an animal lover, much like his other friends were, he couldn't resist.

A dreamy smile across his face, he petted his head, liking the way the ears felt against his skin. "This is nice…"

"Get your lecherous hands off of Kinoko, you filthy human!" Suzuya said as he kicked Homura away.

Suzume smiled, liking the attention. "What's my new name, then?"

Homura sat up from his position on the floor. "Kirinosuke," he answered almost immediately. "Kii for short."

"Why?" Suzuya asked.

"No specific reason."

_This boy, it's just like the time when he named me. So fast at giving out names and yet without any real reason. _

Kirinosuke wagged his tail from excitement, and Homura felt compelled to touch that soft-looking fur again. But he didn't since he didn't want to get kicked yet another time. He had been roughed up enough for one day.

"Well~ then, now that everything's settled, you guys stay here and watch TV or something while I make dinner. I'm tired and hungry. What about curry?"

Judging by their blank faces, they never had curry before. _Of course. They live in the forest, and it's not like curry has been a local dish from ancient times. They can't have eaten it before. _

"Don't worry, it's really good, I bet you'll like it!" He pushed the 'on' button on the remote and after telling Suzuya which buttons to press if they wanted to change channels, he got to work.

* * *

"Okay, it's done!" Homura said, setting the last plate of curry rice on the dining table. He had to admit, it was kinda fun to be cooking for a few more people than yourself. "Turn it off and come here."

Both youkai obediently did what they were told, since both were pretty hungry themselves too. Neither denied when Homura told them they were gluttons, because they are.

As both scooped a spoonful of the curry rice to their mouths, Homura regretted making it. He forgot that these two probably had never eaten anything spicy before, and being the kind who loves it spicy, the choice of making sweet curry instead never presented itself to his mind at all.

Suzuya's face flushed a deep red, and Kirinosuke's eyes watered. Homura was just about to apologize when Suzuya gulped it down quickly and started yelling, while Kirinosuke still had the spoon in his mouth.

"What the hell is this! Are you trying to poison us, human! And here I thought it smelled delicious!" No kidding. He really thought it smelled delicious as Homura stirred it earlier.

"I-I'm sorry, I like spicy stuff, so…"

Kirinosuke started coughing, with his eyes squeezed shut.

_Okay, so maybe it was too spicy for them. _

Suzuya leapt to his feet and cupped a hand under Kirinosuke's chin. "Here, spit it out." The currently-fox youkai hesitated before spitting into Suzuya's hand. When he went away, muttering under his breath, Kirinosuke lowered his head as he wiped his mouth. Homura could see the way his fox ears drooped, he was embarrassed.

"Hey, no need to feel embarrassed, alright? You can't help it if you feel it's too spicy. I'm at fault too, for making this."

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

The human chuckled. "I am, too! Let me make something else, okay? It'd have to be simple though, it's getting late."

"… But you're tired. And who would finish this? I can eat it, no problem."

"Oh no, I can finish them all, don't you underestimate me! I might be a little full later on, but oh well. I'm sorry, okay?"

Kirinosuke managed a brief nod, and Homura once again felt the urge to pet his head.

"Oi Homura. What do I do with my hand? Where should I… discard this?" Suzuya asked from the kitchen, but he could hear him perfectly fine since the countertop was the only obstacle separating the dining table and the small kitchen.

_You fricking mood killer. _"Throw it away, you idiot!"

"Like I said, where! ? In this bin, or in this place where you placed the dirty dishes!"

_Stay calm. He doesn't know what a sink is. Remind yourself that he's a youkai and not a human. _

"Throw 'it' away in that bin, then wash your hands in the sink, the place where I placed the dirty dishes. Turn the knob-like thingy _slowly_. Get it?"

Suzuya managed to turn the faucet and wash his hands clean. "Ohhh…! Human houses are so convenient! They don't need to go to a stream to wash their hands, see, Kii? They can even drink in the comfort of their home!"

* * *

"… What's up with you, Homura?" Natsume asked a little reluctantly when he walked in first thing in the morning to see Homura slumped over his desk before homeroom even started. "I hope you're not mad at me about yesterday?"

"Oh no, I'm not. It's just that…" he sighed deeply. "It was a really tiring day… Those two, have somehow become my housemates…"

"Eh, really? How?"

Homura told him everything from start to finish. Natsume smiled a little when he imagined how Suzu—no, it's Kirinosuke now, looked like with fluffy ears and a furry tail.

"And then, they discovered the sink, the refrigerator, the bathtub, the piano, TV… They referred to the fridge as a 'magic food box', the hot water in the bath as 'an indoor hot spring', the TV as a 'holy thing'… They were excited at how different a piano key sounds from another, and when I scolded them and told them to just stick to TV, they really did. They really did stick to TV. They didn't want to sleep last night, Natsume, you don't know what I've been through."

Natsume patted Homura's head. "You did well to put up with them, didn't you?"

"Trade with me? Can I have Nyanko-sensei instead of a hungry bird and a fox?"

He withdrew his hand. "No. Nyanko-sensei is my bodyguard. Besides, if he went to your house I don't think your piano will be very safe anymore during his drunk nights."

"Oh yeah… He drinks a lot, doesn't he? I think I heard him sing the other day, when I was on my way to the convenience store…"

"Ah, yeah… Putting that aside, after all that yesterday, have you done your homework?"

Homura gasped loudly and immediately sat upright. "Oh damnation. I'm dead. I'm so dead."

"Yo, Homura! Judging by your face you haven't done your homework too! No worries! You and I are the same! We'll go through this together, partner!" Nishimura squeezed his shoulder encouragingly, openly saying that he hadn't done his homework without a worry for the world.

"I am not like you Nishimura! I had a reason I forgot to do my homework, unlike you who goes around doing nothing everyday!"

"Haah? Wanna say that again, Akatsuki? Even I have matters to attend to when I—"

"Enough," Kitamoto sighed, slapping his workbooks on the table. "Just copy mine and Natsume's before classes start or you're both finished."

"Thank you!"

* * *

_**Hahaa~ Sorry I keep changing Suzume, he's become a fox and Kirinosuke now! Honestly I think I like him better as Kirinosuke though, the image of him wagging his tail was just too cute, even if it's just an OC in my head. *p* And the way he said "Ahh, mushrooms…". I had the image of Tamaki from OHSHC, lolz… **_

_**Sorry it wasn't really an interesting chapter—no action at all, hnnnngh—but I'll try and think of something for the next chapter! Thanks to those who've stuck with me, reading this fic although most people would ignore something with an OC! (OCs, in this case) **_

_**Random: Today is Shizu-chan's birthday, woohoo~ [stalks Pixiv and Zerochan for them sexy fanart]**_

* * *

_**SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER BEWAAAAAAREE  
**_

_**Oh. And YunLuffsPandas, yeah, you already asked that question before. XD But be patient! I have my own ways to tortu—I mean, write about Homura overcoming that! [insert evil laugh right about here] But, yeah, let's say that at one point he'll meet it again. [ohmigod I have just revealed to all of you a big-ass spoiler I am such an idiot] /( =「」=)/  
**_


	18. Chapter 18

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 18_

_No Scars Shall Remain_

* * *

It was kind of unbelievable.

A whole week had passed and Homura had grown more and more accustomed to Suzuya and Kii's presence in his home. He had never thought he'd ever open his door wide enough for a youkai to enter—willingly, but it proved to be different for both of them.

Sure, it was exhausting, after all, coming home after school on the first day after he'd left them to see them doodling in his sketchbooks and messing up his paint _was _a major letdown, but thrashing Suzuya was always worth it. On the other hand he pampered Kii, who was quiet, obedient, and cute at times. He didn't think any of it had anything to do with his age and possibly his maturity, so he just plainly ignored Suzuya every time he created a ruckus.

"If you like furry animals so much, then I want to be one too," he sulked one day. What, so it was hot that day and he thought he'd cool down if he stood in front of the fridge, how did he know he wasn't supposed to do so? Homura was crying over spilt milk when he whined on seeing the tub of melted ice-cream.

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't change shape that easily, can you? Besides, I don't think I can stand your puppy eyes if you _are _a furry animal. I like you with wings a lot better," the human replied as he set his grocery bags down on the counter and started sorting through them. No worries, this time he had properly bought sweet-flavored curry as well for the other two. He probably wouldn't have a taste of that when he ever decided to make it though, that was why he bought an additional packet of a spicier one for himself.

Suzuya didn't know what to make of that. Did Homura say that because he really liked his winged form, or did he just wanted him to shut up? Either way he announced that he'd go off for a while and disappeared out the balcony. Homura had left the sliding door of the balcony open at all hours so it'd be easy for Suzuya or Kii to go out if they wanted to, and they had already placed a few charms around so he didn't have to worry about supernatural intruders.

Homura knew he was sulking. Maybe he did go a bit too far when he hit him with his bag, but quickly dismissed the thought. _No, I'm the one more roughed up here. He beats me up more than I manage to get back at him. _

He laughed nonetheless when Suzuya arrived just in time for dinner though, acting as if he owned the place and plonking himself down at the dining table.

It was fun.

It is, but…

Natsume gazed pityingly at him as he sobbed with a side of his face on his desk. _It must be hard. Nyanko-sensei can't really do much since he's just a cat, but both Suzuya and Kii are human-like. _

"What did they do this time?" he asked.

"Piano… They got paint on my lovely piano… And apparently they were having _so _much fun one of the neighbors came by… And apparently they took off like a bullet through the balcony… And I was the one who had to answer for all their deeds… Ahh, good thing it was just Tanaka-san, if it were somebody else I'd get it…"

"Ah, you live in an apartment, that's right…" _At least when Nyanko-sensei does something neighbors wouldn't hear. _

Homura shook his head in defeat. "Do you know? About two days ago they were looking for ero-magazines in my room. Just because they saw someone do the same on TV. Kii was sniffing around while Suzuya was poking his nose in every inch of my room… Ah, they didn't find it of course."

Natsume chuckled. "Wouldn't be so surprised if they manage to find at least one in Nishimura's room, though. And I understand. A drunk Nyanko-sensei was turning my room upside down just because he thought I was hiding some snacks from him."

"What'd you do?"

"Hit him."

Homura reached up to high-five him. "We should totally do that, don't we? We should totally beat them up every time they don't listen to us."

"I don't really think that's such a good—"

"Oi~ How long are you going to take?" Taki called out as she stopped by their class. "We're not waiting for you~"

The two quickly got up and followed Tanuma and Taki outside to eat lunch. Both of them had known most of the story already.

"Nee, nee, Homura-kun," Taki said excitedly. "Don't you think we can meet Kii-kun sometime?" Tanuma nodded too. The fact that all of them were animal-lovers wasn't new, and Taki had been jealous ever since Natsume mentioned he had petted Kirinosuke before.

Homura smiled as he chewed on his onigiri. He had woken up in a hurry because he had overslept a little, and had no time to make anything else. "Sure, I'll bring them along next time we meet up."

"Really? Make it today!"

"Eh?"

"Let's meet up today, at Natsume-kun's house! Or if it's too much trouble my house is fine too! I'll serve all of you mitarashi dango (dango on sticks and covered with a sweet glaze) and imagawayaki (a waffle-like cake traditionally filled with azuki bean paste), my dad brought home a lot of them from his business trip and needed people to help finish it!"

Homura's mouth watered just from imagining it. If compared, he was probably the one who liked sweet things the most, along with Taki. _Aha, reminds me of festivals… _

"Let's go to your house then, Taki," Tanuma said. "You can't just make us gather someplace else when you've mentioned those!"

He was having fun.

In fact, he was having so much fun, he forgot an important thing.

Once you let your guard down and show your cracks, youkai are bound to take advantage of that.

* * *

Homura didn't totally know what happened. All he knew was he shouldn't have helped that small youkai look for its home during his free time instead of doing his homework or something. But it was still very young, it seemed, and he didn't have the heart to just leave it there, lest it got eaten by another youkai. He followed it deeper and deeper into the forest, where the trees grew thicker, blocking out the afternoon sunlight. He tried to dismiss it, but he had to admit that he began to feel fidgety the further they wound their way in. It wasn't just because he was afraid of the unknown dangers ahead, but also, they were walking for a long time now and they still haven't arrived. Plus, Homura wasn't exactly a person who knew where to turn back to by just going that way once. Being in a forest didn't actually help either. Sure, he could call for one of Natsume's friends he'd met a few times before, but he'd prefer not to. Especially not that female youkai that smokes too much and loathes men. What was her name...? Right. Hinoe.

They maintained a neutral conversation, neither exposing too much, just some random topics about the weather, about the forest, about what the small youkai had eaten the day before it got lost.

Homura inwardly sighed in relief when the youkai finally cried out in delight, jumping up and down and pointing. They were in front of a small hill, and what he understood from snippets of what the youkai chirped was that its home was just a little further up that hill. He watched as it climbed up without much effort, finding footholds easily and yell its thanks from above. He smiled and raised his hand in return, then turning around to find his way back before he got lost.

Suddenly he froze. It all just happened way, way too fast.

He had mildly noticed a cave-like entrance to his side when he arrived with the youkai, but had paid it not much attention since it looked just like any ordinary cave. Then just as he turned around, he saw something big, and black shot out from there and crash into the it.

The youkai which he had just helped find its home.

He froze in shock and yes, fear as that thing enveloped it, binding its limbs, restricting its movement. He wondered why he could still hear the youkai's screams, loud and clear, and bloodcurdling, even when 'it' had covered almost every inch of its small body. He felt his blood run cold, felt the cold sweat trickling down his brow, as he wished he was deaf. Just for that one moment, he wished he was deaf against the crunching sounds and disgusting squelching noises.

_What… is… _

He took a step back, gripping his bag tightly, bracing himself. He was in the open, so he couldn't really hide even if he wanted to, so all he could hope was for that thing to finish up quickly and go away, or retreat slowly, or if desperation calls, a wild dash for the trees and bushes he hoped would conceal him. He could already feel his stomach churning as it continued to devour the youkai; he had to be quick before his stomach decided to do a little flip right then and there.

_Good… Just stay there, and I'll… get away, slowly… _he thought as he backed a few more steps, trying to be as cautious as he could and not make a sound. But try as he might breathing shallowly did not calm his pounding heart. If ever, it just made it thump all the more noisily in his head.

He kept his eyes warily on the thing, and all of a sudden it disappeared. Homura could have broken down from relief at that second, but his rejoice was short-lived.

"Ah…" he yelped when it appeared right in front of his face. Moreover, it was too close he had to back up a bit. His fingers twitched as his eyes unwillingly focused on the creature nearly twice as tall as him, though his mind was in overdrive and couldn't really see its features properly. All he saw was a black, somewhat irregular and distorted build, big eyes with tiny red pupils that glinted, and an equally huge mouth. He gasped as it still chewed, blood dribbling down the corners of it mouth. He thought… he thought he could see some of the remains… there…

_No…_

He could only stare as the creature twisted its mouth into a crooked grin, and felt his eye twitch when a few drops of blood dripped on his face. He tried his best not to make any unnecessary movements, but it was hard not to when the smell was so _foul_.

"_Human…" _it said gleefully. _"A human…! So good-smelling!"_

"No!" he shouted and smacked his bag at it, then made a wild dash back the way he had come.

His breath came out in frightened pants as adrenaline pushed him on. Somehow his senses had heightened and so managed to dodge or jump over tree roots and rocks, and he tried not to look back to see whether the youkai was gaining on him. But even if he wasn't looking, he knew it was. He heard the rustle of grass as it skidded across it and the sound of its delighted murmurs.

_I need to run. I need to get out of here. I need to—_

His thought was interrupted by something wrapping his leg, thus making him trip. He spent a few seconds on the ground, dazed and hurt. He pushed himself up slowly and turned his head round to see what had tripped him.

It was a clawed hand.

How it managed to stretch its arm from afar to trap him here, he didn't know, but it didn't matter much at the moment. He tried pulling away, tugging his leg desperately, but than losing its grip, the hand grabbed on to him tighter. And when he was almost sure the hand would slip off it adjusted its long claws and dragged it across his skin. He cried out, but it only seemed to make it dig deeper into his skin.

Homura looked around for something, _anything_. He spotted a large enough rock just in his reach. It would do. He picked it up and crushed it down at the elongated arm with all his might, and with an angered growl some ways off, it released him. He didn't waste any time. Despite the burning pain in his leg he grabbed on to his bag and kept on running.

When he finally realized it he no longer heard the sound of his pursuer slinking across the forest floor. He stopped and gathered the guts to look backwards to see if it was real, hand swiping the sweat from his face.

_Wow, did I really lose it? No, wait, that thing, is that… _

_Damn! _He dodged another shot-out arm this time, thankfully, and turned back once again to run. _Damn it, damn it, when will it learn to stop…! _

He was keeping watch behind him, to see if it would lash out its arms again, and for some reason he was sure it didn't have just two. Running blindly forward, steering clear of things that would trip him up—if that happened, then it would surely be the end—and constantly looking backwards wasn't an easy thing to do. So he couldn't really help it if he collided into somebody.

"Homura! ?"

At any rate he was so thankful it was someone he knew that he immediately clutched the persons sleeve with trembling fingers.

"Ki… Kirinosuke…" he said between pants.

The youkai took in Homura's ragged appearance and the torn pants with blood flowing downwards, eyes flashing. "What exactly…?"

"Take me home…"

Kirinosuke's ears picked up something and he snapped his head in the direction from where Homura came running from. He started to move but was stopped by the human whom he was currently tied to.

"No, no need… Just take me home."

Kirinosuke was hesitating. It was as clear as day. His master was attacked and he was supposed to go vanquish whatever foul creature that dared do so, but he himself didn't want him to…? He wasn't like Hiyo. Hiyo can think of something all the way through to even the tiniest detail, he can come across any situation, analyze it and know which actions are best to take, he can even think up ways to overcome this while he was being preoccupied with something else. Even if he was a bit rude sometimes and just wouldn't admit the truth if it meant it was embarrassing to him, he still had those qualities Kirinosuke sometimes wished he had. If you look at it from a different angle, even though he was the one who rescued that little chick he was the one being protected instead. He was simple, apathetic, not that alert and observant of all the things around him, not much of a talker and he was careless. He had walked into many a trap in all the years they've spent together and Hiyo would come to his rescue in the nick of time, and every time he had to brace himself with a lengthy lecture, although he'd always do something to avert his attention soon after.

So instead of being the one who was sheltered and not being able to do a thing for himself, he wanted someone to protect with his own power. Of course, he didn't think it would be a human boy, but he and Hiyo had already established a relationship that went beyond who's the master and who's the dog, who gets access to the remote controller, who gets to decide what to eat and who gets to beat the other up, even just for the fun of it. It was friendship along the blurred and to Kii, 'already ancient' lines of a master and shiki relationship.

Besides, he liked the boy. And his friends—at least, those among the circle of the youkai-related humans. He had opened up a new world, a new scenery for him, and he had given him the thing he wanted. He was able to serve his purpose.

A simple-minded being who thought nothing of the worries of the near future, just one who was living today with attempted joy, that depicts Kirinosuke. He tried hard to achieve what he can for the day, even if it was just some random and maybe meaningless thing like receiving sweets from Homura and that Taki girl. He hadn't the time to think or dwell on tomorrow. He knew it was unwise, but he chose not to.

So Homura's request—to Kirinosuke, every word that comes out of Homura's mouth should be considered as an order—for him to bring him home when that ayakashi was just _that _way, the one who had hurt him, baffled him a little.

But an order is an order, so he complied. He was careful not to accidentally touch his injured leg as he carried him up, then with a final glance behind him at the ayakashi that was coming closer, leapt.

Homura had wanted to know how Kii would be able to bring him out of a nasty situation if danger calls, it's just that he hadn't expected for it to be this quick. Honestly it was like being atop a ninja, jumping from tree branch to tree branch. Or was it flying…? He didn't know. Sure, Kirinosuke would land on a branch sometimes, but Homura didn't think it would totally qualify for jumping. They were in the air for too long. _So that was how Natsume said youkai like Hinoe travelled, _he thought.

It was different from how he flied with Suzuya. There would always be a rhythmic flap of wings that made him feel like he was drifting off to sleep, and it was much steadier. With Kii it was kind of dizzying, since they went up and down, but it was still exhilarating. What's more, at least Kii held him in a gentler way so he felt comfortable. Suzuya would handle him as if he was a bag of luggage, sometimes holding him up by the stomach—which he had really felt the urgent need to throw up, and other times… He didn't want to think about it any further.

Before he knew it Kii had already landed on his balcony and set him down on the sofa, then went and turned on the lights. Homura had to explain countless times to them about that, they never got the switches right.

"Kii?"

"Yes?"

"Can you grab the first-aid kit? It's in the cabinet near the sink. You know what it looks like right? That white box with all the bandages and stuff in it?"

"Yes."

He heard the shuffling of feet as Kirinosuke made his way to the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets. He opened his eyes when the youkai appeared in front of him once again and holding out the box.

"Thanks," he said, reaching up to take it, but his fingers closed around thin air as Kirinosuke withdrew it and put it on the coffee table. "Eh? Kii?"

"Roll up your pant leg," he said softly, a damp towel in his other hand as he knelt down in front of Homura.

He did as he was told, but then said, "N-No, I can do it myself, you know? I'm used to it already, that's why…" He didn't get to say any more since Kii had already pressed the towel to his leg and started dabbing at it to get the blood off.

With a small sigh he let him do it for him, feeling a bit awkward since not that much people were willing to help him dress his wounds. He stared at his tattered uniform pants with dejection. "Ah… it's ruined…" he muttered. Now he had to go buy another one.

"You were lucky, you know," Kirinosuke's soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Ah? Oh." …_Oh_, he was supposed to thank him. "Th-Thank you, Kii," he hurriedly continued.

Kii's eyebrows drew together in a frown.

_Ah, di-did I say something wrong?_

"…I didn't mean that," he started. "I just said you were lucky. If I wasn't there, you would have been…" He sighed. "In any case you weren't supposed to go wander into that part of the forest. Keep your distance next time and don't follow any… Homura?"

"Yeah?" He winced when Kii's fingers accidentally touched his wounds when he looked into his face.

"What _were _you doing there? Am I allowed to ask that?"

He let out a nervous laugh. "Ah, haha, I was kinda helping this young youkai find its way home, you know? I just didn't know that its home was so deep in the forest, but I didn't really want to abandon it there, so I just went along with it. But then when it found the way at last, that… other youkai earlier, it…" Homura's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, then he seemed to have given up and clamped it shut. He gazed up into those brown eyes when Kirinosuke stood up, and used a clean part of the cloth to wipe off the dried blood on his face.

"I'm sorry; I should have wiped your face first. I forgot," he said. It's true; he'd only remembered when he looked up at Homura for the first time since they'd gotten home. _So that was why I smelled a youkai's blood on him… _"And don't worry now, I can guess the rest of the story."

A smile graced his features when Homura grinned up at him. "Thanks a lot for saving me, Kii!"

He nodded, and sat back down. "Now, back to this," he said, tapping his leg.

"Ahh, I really am fine by now, I'll just dress it up myself and bandage it. Should be fine in a week or so," he shrugged.

Kii shook his head, which made Homura's eyes widen. "I'll heal it my way. It's faster and doesn't hurt as much. At least Hiyo wouldn't be asking so many questions when he comes back."

"Ahh, you're right~ I don't even wanna think what he'd do to me, aha… But, how exactly are you going to do it? Use a paste like Suzuya? No way in hell, Kirinosuke. That stuff damn hurts," he said seriously.

His fingers stopped short from touching Homura's leg. _Hiyo has given the salve to him before? Really? _He knew the tengu for a long time now, and he definitely knew he wasn't the type to freely give out precious things like that to other creatures, ayakashi and humans alike. He wouldn't even share his chestnuts with him that one autumn. He shook his head and took hold of Homura's leg, and that startled him.

"No worries, I won't be applying anything to your leg, it's just that I'm going to heal it with my powers, at least until it's enough to not create any more scars on your body." Yes, he knew about Homura's many scars, both visible and the ones that are hidden, even though the human himself has never told him about any of them. While Hiyo only filled him in on the vague details of the other boy in the pictures Homura hung in the room with the piano, and how he died, and how Homura had tried to take his own life after that, Kirinosuke had the feeling Hiyo didn't know about the others. He wasn't even sure whether he'd seen them before.

But he knew. He didn't exactly have to look at the pinkish scar decorating his right leg to know he had been burned. He was just relieved his skin was smooth and fine and not shriveled and ugly. And now, his other leg was injured, and he would not allow any other scars to remind Homura that he was _different_, different from all the humans he had met and separated with.

In actuality, Kirinosuke hadn't known about his ability, when it happened, or when it did function, he never realized it. He wondered whether intuition was a sort of ability. He just had to look at someone in the eyes and know about the things they've been through, especially after he'd been with them for some time. He knew Natsume had the Yuujinchou—though he never mentioned it to the boy himself, he knew the cat spirit that accompanied him was a high-level being such as himself and Hiyo, he knew Tanuma Kaname wasn't capable of controlling his reactions toward the side-effects of being near youkai and how he would be sick every now and then, he knew Taki Tooru had been cursed and that Natsume had helped her get out of it.

It was both a hassle and a convenient ability to have, Kirinosuke thought. He had never considered it as a curse, and even if somebody had stated it was and had proof, he would deny it to the very end. Sure, it had revealed tons of unneeded thoughts and feelings of everybody he'd conversed with, happy ones and ugly ones alike, but if you look at it in a different way, it might prove to be handy if he were to be faced with an evil source. He had also made sure to keep his ability a secret, and it was one of the very few things Hiyo didn't know about him.

His hands glowed and the warm light illuminated his wounds a little, though it was hard to see since the lights were on. He was right, it didn't hurt at all. Rather, it filled Homura with a warm, fuzzy feeling that made him numb, but in a good way.

"You should sleep." Again, Kirinosuke's voice cut through his thoughts, and Homura tried to focus his heavy eyes at the youkai. "It takes a little bit of your energy, and it needs some time for your wounds to regenerate without leaving behind any scars like I hoped, so it makes you feel tired. You should sleep," he repeated.

Homura managed a tiny smile. He would've fallen asleep even if he'd never said anything, but now that he was told to do so, he gladly embraced the darkness that took over his body.

* * *

Kirinosuke was just putting a blanket over Homura when he heard the familiar flap of wings as Hiyo waltzed into the room.

"I smell blood. What happened?" His question was direct and demanding. The fox-form youkai thought that he should at least give his greetings or something, but he said nothing.

"I have to talk to you, Hiyo," he said instead.

The tengu didn't look so uptight anymore, and blew his bangs away from his eyes with a huff. "I _told _you countless times not to call me that, Kirinosuke…"

"Homura wandered into the youkai's part of the forest today. He somehow passed the barrier," he explained bluntly.

"What? How?"

"Either he crossed a weaker part of the barrier unnoticed, or some other ayakashi led him in. I found out it was the latter. A youkai he helped search for its home was eaten in front of his eyes by a larger, and more powerful demon, and that demon went after him. He was injured, but I can't be sure if it placed a curse on him, I don't have the ability to find out so you'd have to do it, but save it for later. More importantly, what steps should we take next? I want to pay back what it did to Homura."

Suzuya smirked at the glowering look on Kirinosuke's face. Granted, it _is _Kirinosuke, so it didn't look any more lethal than a simple downcast frown, but he knew better. 'Sides, the dark aura around him impressed him greatly. He knew it'd be catastrophic if Kirinosuke were to blow up in a rage, possibly he would be even worse than he would, but for him to be angered to such an extent when Suzuya himself hadn't seen him like that...

"Oh my, what's wrong, Kirinosuke? Are you that attached to Akatsuki Homura-sama already?" he teased.

The angry expression melted back into that apathetic mask once more and Suzuya felt a little disappointed. He would have liked to see more facial expressions on the older youkai, since he rarely made any it was interesting just to watch him snort in indignation or laugh. "I can say the same thing about you, Hiyo. You have healed him with the salve I made for you before, right?"

"...Hmph, I just gave it him since it was a hassle to always keep it with me, besides, I have not much use for it, so better to put it to use rather than letting it go to waste, no?"

"Ahh... You are such a dishonest little baby chick, my little Hiyo..." Kirinosuke sighed, wagging his tail, a sign that he was teasing him as well.

"Like I said, _stop calling me by that name! _I have outgrown it already!"

* * *

_**Uwahh… Once again, such a long, long chapter… Haha, sorry if it took you a long time to reach this author's note! Oh, and one more thing, even though the tengu's name is 'officially' Suzuya, and everybody else calls him so, Kirinosuke chose to stick to 'Hiyo', so don't be confused when the name randomly switches to Suzuya and Hiyo from time to time, 'kay? ;D**_


	19. Chapter 19

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 19_

_A Trip to the Hot Springs_

* * *

The next day when he opened the door to his home upon returning from school, Homura found that it was eerily quiet. Recently when he came home there would be the sound of TV, or of bickering between the two youkai staying in his home. Now that they were always around it was kind of strange to be coming back to the silence that had welcomed him every time he came home before.

Sure enough, any ideas about the possibility of them having an early afternoon nap was instantly crossed out when he passed by their room—which used to be a mostly-empty spare room—and saw their futons neatly stacked in a corner. Homura changed and rested for a while, before deciding to put together some lunch just for himself and start doing a little homework.

Neither of them showed up for the rest of the day, and Homura spent it feeling it a little more stress-free without the noisy tengu. He made dinner then, thinking that if Suzuya and Kirinosuke were not going to come back tonight he could reserve their share for tomorrow's lunch.

They did come back later though, but Homura didn't say anything when he saw that they had grim expressions on their faces and won't talk about where they'd been, and for once, the three of them sat together and ate dinner without a single word.

Soon, summer ended and in came the first signs of autumn. It still wasn't that cold yet—at least, not enough to make anybody start bundling up, but both Natsume and Homura had noticed the significant amount of youkai that had already settled down and preparing for winter. That meant that they won't have as much trouble as the past few months regarding all those cases.

While Taki and Sasada—a weird combination, but it still happened sometimes when they gathered around—flipped through magazines for the season's latest collections and Nishimura and Kitamoto argued about where to go to their next trip which involved everyone, the remaining three were in a much more relaxed mood, instead just sitting silently and sipping their cans of tea.

Since it was already autumn the students had all gone back to wearing their gakuran, and Homura toyed with his collar. "Are you feeling better nowadays, Tanuma?"

The only black-haired male of the group nodded in answer. "There's not that much trouble in autumn, and even lesser during winter. I really only have to worry about spending summers when they're all out and about…"

"That's great," Natsume said. He really felt relieved. Tanuma had been facing a lot lately, especially after Homura transferred in. Not that he was doubting or blaming him or anything, but he couldn't help but feel that Homura's presence here had created some sort of stirring amongst the ayakashi.

* * *

"… What?" Homura asked dumbly.

"Like I said, a trip!" the famous actor repeated, all smiles.

Homura frowned at the bag the actor had sitting by his foot, and back up at his face, ignoring the lizard youkai crawling over his skin at the moment.

"You come here, uninvited, and most probably wooing all the female tenants around and creating problems for me, and you're asking me to go along with you on a _trip_?" Homura had heard about what Natori considered to be a trip had turned out to be something youkai-related after all from Natsume.

"Yep!" he chirped, sipping his tea.

If possible, Homura didn't want to involve himself with youkai for the time being.

When he thought that both Suzuya and Kirinosuke had somehow done something to the ominous youkai that ate that smaller one, something had happened to _him _after the incident. He started having weird dreams with maybe something in it, but he'd always be unable to remember when he woke up. And at around the same time there was a strange marking along his right arm, a black thing, kind of like a tattoo, kind of like the lizard youkai Natori has. At first he thought nothing of it and hopefully, maybe it'd go away soon, but he should've known better than to assume the best in everything.

It _didn't _go away. Of course it didn't.

He touched his sleeve subconsciously. It was a good thing summer rolled by to make way for autumn and it had pleasantly cooled down a little, so Homura wouldn't have to worry about sweating buckets when wearing long-sleeved shirts. He wasn't totally sure whether normal people would be able to see his 'tattoo', and he hadn't shown it to _anyone _so it was always good to have an umbrella ready before it rains.

'I don't want to go' was what he would like to bluntly say, but he wasn't sure with this actor before him. He was pretty positive the man would worm his way into getting him to agree.

So instead, he asked, "Why me?"

Natori set his teacup down with a soft clink. "Do you really need a reason to go out and have fun with your friends, Akatsuki Homura-kun?"

"Don't call me by my full name. Sounds creepy. Homura's fine," he said irritably.

The older man chuckled. "Fine, Homura-kun it is then. But really, I just want to get to know you, you know, meeting another person who knows what you're going through as well has to be greatly interesting," he finished with a smile. Homura could just see imaginary diamonds glittering all around him. No wonder Natsume said he found it stressing sometimes whenever Natori flaunted by to meet him.

"… 'Interesting'?" he repeated with a frown.

Natori just laughed again. "Come on! It'll be fun! We're gonna go to this nice, secluded inn, and it has hot springs! If you would just hurry up with your packing, then after picking Natsume-kun up we'll be ready to go!"

"Eh? Is Natsume going too?" He leaned forward in his seat.

Natori was thinking how easy it was to persuade children to do what they're told by adding in some things that piqued their interest. "Well, to tell the truth, I haven't told him yet, since this is pretty sudden. I was planning to drop by the Fujiwara's afterwards. So? How about it?"

Homura seemed to hesitate. "Ah, um, that is… I _do _want to go, but how about…"

"Your shiki?" he finished for the boy.

The younger male frowned slightly. "Don't call them that. I don't treat them as my servants."

"Oops, forgive me. Well anyways, it's not like you've been taking care of them since they were little, right?"

"Huh?"

"What I mean is, they've lived a lifetime longer than you, surely a few days managing without you wouldn't kill them? And I've already met them earlier. It kind of surprised me to see someone other than Suzuya, you know? And they've already agreed to let you come…"

_Why does this feel like he's asking __**them **__for permission to let __**me **__go on a trip with him?_

He sighed. "Fine. Just… wait here. I'll go pack." He went to the kitchen, cut out a chunk of brownie and placed it on a plate, before setting it in front of the bespectacled actor. "Here, help yourself while I'm gone."

He could hear "Ooh, cake!" as he made his way to his room, shaking his head along the way.

He was humming to himself, stuffing clothes and stuff into his duffel bag. Now that he thought about it, it can't be that bad following Natori, after all he was the one who was gonna pay for everything.

"Well, at least I don't have to look at Suzuya's idiotic face again," he said happily, to himself.

Or so he thought.

A sudden movement and the soft rustle of clothes and wings pinpointed Suzuya's sudden appearance through his bedroom window. It looked like he was coming in as quiet as he could, with one leg already swung over the sill and his hands gripping the frame to support himself, but froze when he heard Homura speak.

_Well, too late to take them back now. _

"You…" He narrowed his pair of blue eyes. "Ahh, I regretted ever _thinking _whether I should stop by. I'm going back out," he said monotonously and turning his head away.

"W-Wait!" Homura flung himself to Suzuya's side and buried his face among the ash-gray feathers, not really caring if they tickled his nose. "Fine, I'm sorry!"

Suzuya pondered for a while, before changing his mind and stepped into his room. "I see you're going to follow Natori."

"Yeah, well, Natsume's going too, so… Had you guys… wanted to come along?"

The tengu raised a hand. "Nope, not at all. That man's shiki is also staying behind too, since he wanted it to be a gathering of 'normal people' having a 'normal weekend'. There's just one thing bothering Kii though. While Natori can simply apply his skills as an exorcist, and while Natsume can depend on that not-really-useful piggy kitty of his, you'd have nothing to go by if something happened when you were alone, so…" He produced what looked to be two identical necklaces, or actually, they were just a couple loops of thread with a few beads and a gray feather in the middle.

Homura looked at the two feathers. "Are these…?"

"Yes they're mine. In any case, just wear this on you at all times, and when you come across any problems hold on to it and call us, and we'll come to your aid." He put one around Homura as he was talking. Homura noticed that he could conceal it beneath his shirt without anybody noticing. "Give this other one to Natsume."

"… You really don't trust Sensei, do you…?" he asked before fingering the necklace around his neck. "Are you sure this thing works?"

"Hm. I guess you should know that I may not come whenever you need me as this is melded with Kirinosuke's magic and _he _should be the one to sense any danger. So if he can't find me in a short time he would most probably go on ahead."

"… I feel like those Red Indians in those Western movies," he said as he tucked it beneath his shirt.

"Ah. Those people that gather around and scream like madmen. I saw them on TV. Okay then, now that my job here is done, goodbye. And make sure you bring home some souvenirs. I don't need anything. Food. Just food. And also, Kii wants to know whether it's safe for him to look forward to mitarashi dango. Not Nanatsujiya's, though."

"Ahh… I'll try and look for it. I'll get something else if I don't find any then."

Suzuya nodded, preparing to fly off but suddenly stopped, turned around and smirked. "Well~ If it's such a bother then we can just 'hang out' with Taki and Tanuma!"

"No, please don't use Kii's meekness to dig up desserts. I'll find some for you for sure, so just… don't."

"Hmph. Fine. Farewell." And with a flutter of wings, he was gone.

* * *

Fujiwara Touko was sitting at the dining table, flipping through a magazine when the doorbell rang and she could hear muffled voices. _Must be Takashi-kun's friends_, she thought, and smiled on her way to unlock the front door.

As she'd guessed, it was Homura-kun again. He had been coming quite often these past few weeks, always bringing her desserts he'd made. It would also seem that he had grown attached to her, and they would spend time together sometimes, with him teaching her to make the desserts she never knew how. She liked him, nearly as dearly as she adored Takashi, even more so when she knew bits and pieces of his life from Takashi. Homura was like Takashi in many ways, although he needed a different approach for her to get close to him. And now their relationship had gotten much, much better, and she found herself looking forward to his visits, and with each visit Homura looked happier.

However this time, Natori-san came along with him, and they chatted while Homura trudged his way up to Natsume's bedroom. Apparently they had come to bring Takashi along with them on a trip, and Touko was happy to let him go. After about half an hour for him to pack, Touko gave Takashi, and Homura, some advice, especially emphasizing that they should not be too reckless. She had seen them and the others always getting caught up in some kind of mess a lot of times, but she couldn't exactly blame them.

Boys will be boys, after all.

* * *

"Are we _really _not going to get involved in youkai-related business this time, Natori-san?" Natsume asked for about the third time ever since they'd left his house and went into one of Natori's less expensive, more normal-looking cars. A flashy red sports car _would _attract too much attention if your destination was an inn way out in the country, after all. He was strapped safely in the passenger's seat, and Homura was comfortably sprawled out in the back, dozing off. He had explained to them earlier on that he tended to get sleepy easily in moving vehicles, so the other two weren't bothered with it.

As for Nyanko-sensei, they had waited a little for him back at the Fujiwara's, but he never showed up. So simple—they left him behind.

"What are you saying, Natsume-kun~? I've already told you that this trip will strictly be for relaxation purposes only," Natori answered, eyes never wandering from the road.

"Hmm. I'm just saying that if you _do _have some business to attend to, which probably you do, I really hope you wouldn't involve Homura much."

"Well, if Natsume-kun says so, but when the time comes I may have to have Homura-kun help out sometimes, mind you. He's been saying so himself, wanting to help you out in any way he could. Such a good relationship you two share, eh? Along with Tanuma-kun too." Natsume bristled at the mention of Tanuma's name. "But unfortunately, I don't think I'd be able to think up of an excuse for bringing along with me three high-school boys this far out, even if I say you guys are my relatives. I wonder why I get skeptical looks from people sometimes when I'm in disguise…"

_That's because you look shady, Natori-san, but I'm not going to say that. _The car fell silent again except for Homura's deep breathing and Natsume turned to look at the teen, who was then scratching the side of his head. It brought him back to when he came into his room and gave him the necklace, charm thingy from Kii and Suzuya. If it really did work like how Homura described it, then it would be very convenient for him. At least when he was in danger and Nyanko-sensei was off wandering by himself he could depend on the tengu and the fox-form youkai to help him.

"Natsume-kun," Natori said, pulling said teen away from his train of thought.

"Yes?"

"We're almost there. Please wake Homura-kun up from me, won't you?"

True enough, Natsume could just see part of the inn. He turned around and nudged Homura's leg.

"Homura, we're here. Wake up already."

* * *

"Ahh~ The air is so fresh here~" Homura said happily when they entered their room. He was already out in the veranda and enjoying the view while the other two were setting their bags in a corner. As they'd suspected, they had a little bit of trouble when they were checking in, seeing as how the three of them look _nothing _alike; what's more with Natori's glasses, hat and clothes that looked just a little more fashionable than a normal shirt and jeans the proprietress was obviously suspicious. Natori said they were cousins, and Homura helped out by saying that their mothers were sisters, hence the different surnames.

"Let's see… They have hot springs, and a small river somewhere around here, and a beautiful park where we can stroll around. I don't know where it is, but we'll just have to ask around later. So," Natori clapped his hands to bring forth attention from the two boys who were in the veranda before continuing, "want to bathe before dinner comes?"

"Okay," Natsume answered almost immediately, and they got ready. Homura was just about to follow after them too, before he realized that bathing together would mean that the both of them would see the tattoo-like mark on his arm.

"Homura-kun? What about you?" Natori asked, already halfway out the door.

"Uh, y-you guys go ahead. I'm feeling a little lazy from the nap I had just now, so I'm just going to hang out by the entrance hall."

They had told him to be back in time for dinner and, jokingly, not to doze off in one of the comfortable-looking couches or he'd lose his food. Natori had also warned him not to go outside if he could, that they should go together, all three of them. Even though he had made it sound like it was for his own safety, to Homura it was just as if he didn't want him to ruin his fun. Later it looked like the baths were empty so he went in for a quick soak.

After a hearty dinner the three of them parted ways—Natsume off to the baths for the second time, Natori out to buy some snacks and drinks at a convenience store, and him back at the soft green couch he was sitting on before at the entrance hall, watching TV with a couple of foreign tourists who smiled and greeted him. Soon however, the tourists rose to retire to their rooms, and after a 'goodnight' Homura was left alone by himself again. Not like he minded. He would just wait for Natsume to come by and tell him that he finished so they could go back to the room together.

"Homura-kun?"

He looked up, but it wasn't Natsume like he was expecting. Natori was back, with a couple of plastic bags in his hand.

"I take it that Natsume-kun… hasn't finished yet?" he asked.

Homura nodded.

The actor chuckled, and Homura noticed some of the nakai talk animatedly with each other as they walked past. "Natsume-kun really does like taking baths, doesn't he? Oh well, let's just wait for him here."

"What did you buy?" Homura peeked into the bags, trying to catch a glimpse of the contents in hopes that his favorite snacks were included.

"A-a-ah~ We'll go through them later. You're free to grab a drink though."

"Thanks," he replied, fished out a can in random, and sipped the cool liquid. Mmm. It tasted somewhat like grape juice, but it had a tangy twist to it. Homura brought his knees up to his chest, hugging them, and sipping his juice occasionally as Natori talked about his newest photoshoot and how a fan had snuck into set, and then on to the drama series he's acting out. He apparently plays as a cop with side-swept hair who teams up with a rival detective to catch a drug-smuggling ring. He said that even though the plot seems typical there are several surprising twists to help maintain the series' popularity, and since it's action and stuff the show would be widely enjoyed by the male audience too.

Honestly, halfway through Homura just didn't care anymore.

It wasn't because he was being rude, but he was the type who likes all the juicy details, but doesn't like being given spoilers. And also because he was getting sleepy again.

"… but he turned her down instead! And left her there in front of that gift shop! Now what do you think about that, Homura-kun? …Homura-kun…?" Natori turned to find, feeling a little offended, Homura already sleeping, with his knees still hugged to his chest and his head leaning towards him, and the can held loosely in his hand.

He was just finding it a little bit cute and thought of snapping a picture just to spite him, but he realized that the boy's face was flushed.

_U… Uh-oh. Could it be…_

Natori looked over to the can in his hand. Ahh, he had forgotten to ask the store attendant to separate the alcohol and the normal drinks. Looks like Homura pulled out an alcoholic one. He pried the can free from his fingers and realized that there was still a quarter left. _He didn't even finish a can… This guy can't hold his liquor much, _he thought, then realized something else.

Homura's yukata sleeve had ridden up a little, and Natori noticed something strange. He set the can of alcohol down on the little table beside him and pulled up the sleeve some more, revealing the dark marking trailing down his arm. He knew it was headed downwards, towards his fingers, by the tips of the marking where it was thinner. So that was why Homura didn't want to bathe with them earlier on.

He needed to find out why he had the marking, and somehow he thought that Natsume didn't know about it. He sighed. Turns out this trip wasn't exactly going to be a no-youkai outing after all.

Natori gulped down the rest of the alcohol in one breath, lifted Homura up onto his back and made his way back to their room. At any rate it was already late and they are to go to bed. Natsume had most probably forgotten about telling them he had finished and went back to the room by himself, so he would dwell on it before sleeping, and deal with the rest of the situation tomorrow.

* * *

_**Wheeee~~~ Here comes Natori for the second time in this fic~~~ ( —w-)/ There's not much in this chapter, and though I intended to fit in the whole thing in this chapter, it was too long so it had to be in two parts. Which means all the action are in the next chapter, folks! Stay tuned! **_

_**Oh, as a side note, for those of you who don't know, nakai are staff in inns.  
**_


	20. Chapter 20

_Phantasmogoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 20_

_One Thing After The Other_

* * *

Moments later Natori had managed to lug Homura back to their room and had him tucked in. Natsume was, as expected, mad at him for unthinkingly giving alcohol to a minor, but forgave him soon enough once he'd stated his reasons. Soon the two of them got sleepy too, and went to bed. Natori had left the veranda sliding door open since the night air was refreshing.

Homura was sleeping soundly when something prodded at his mind to wake up. He refused to give in to it, turning in his futon instead. He had no recollection of what had happened earlier, but he was sure that the last time he was awake was when he was with Natori. They were talking, and… He groaned because his head hurt. What _had _they been doing together to make his head hurt this badly? And he felt sick to his stomach. It would be best if he refrained from making any sudden movements, he decided.

He was just about to drift back to dreamland when a sudden sound fully woke him up. It sounded like something had swooped in through the veranda. He shot up like a bullet, eyes wide, only to have himself doubled over due to the ringing in his ears and the throbbing in his head. He cursed inwardly.

He heard it again and tried his best to ignore the headache. Homura's eyes darted nervously around the room, and down at his sleeping companions. His futon was nearest to the veranda, and there was Natsume beside him, his blanket already slid off one side, and Natori at the other end. Good. Nothing had apparently happened to them.

He frowned and shuffled to his knees, inching closer to the veranda. It was dark out, but the moon was enough to bathe the room in a soft glow, enabling him to see. He could make out the outlines of trees outside. That was good too. That way he could easily make out anything that was suspended on air against the backdrop.

Homura's eyes squinted, trying to locate the thing that had disturbed his sleep. By then he was quite certain that it was a youkai, he can sense its presence. But he wasn't sure whether it was just a harmless passing spirit or a dangerous one, so he needed to know. It could be targeting him, or Natsume, or Natori. Of course, he didn't want to be endangered, and he could care less for Natori, but he didn't want for something to happen to Natsume. Suddenly his thoughts wandered back home, and Homura wished for both Tanuma and Taki's safety with Suzuya and Kirinosuke's protection as well.

_Ah. There it is_, Homura thought as he noticed a small batting thing. Only…

It was facing their way and seemed to be staring straight at him.

Small things are not to be looked down upon. Homura ducked with the intentions of throwing himself back into his futon and pretending to be asleep, but hesitated. He should shut the sliding door first, shouldn't he?

He raised his eyes again, slowly, his hand gripping the doorframe. The marks on his arm drew his attention away from outside. He gasped. What if it was the youkai that most probably caused it? Then what should he do? He thought of the youkai he had helped but had gotten eaten. That monster was a dangerous one. His hand wavered.

No. Wait. It was small, wasn't it? _Oh, yeah. My head is so foggy I can't even think straight. _

He went on to sliding the door slowly. All of a sudden his face was smothered and his hands flew up to the thing on his face, scrabbling at it, trying to get it off.

"Bwah!" He managed to get it away from his face and stared down at it. "Huh?" he couldn't help utter.

In his hands, were a fluffy bird that was obviously a youkai, with a hat and markings on its wings, and a small female youkai who was currently flailing about since her leg was trapped beneath the bird.

_What is this. _

"Ho… Homura-sama!" her voice sounded out, light and high and tinkling. It was hushed, however, as if she didn't want the other two behind Homura to wake up. "W-What are you doing? Get the bird off me!" she whined.

He did as he was told, picking up the bird and letting it fly away to perch outside on the veranda railing.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The room fell in silence for a while, with them staring at each other. Then the youkai pounced on his face and dug her tiny nails in his cheek, before settling on his shoulder, leaning into his ear.

"_Homura-sama_! Have you forgotten? ! It's Rie! _Rie! _I cannot accept the fact that you actually have the drive to forget about me! It's _Rie_! Geez! It is all because of Homura-sama, that Master has to be your shiki!" she scolded, her hand tucking his hair behind his ear.

"Ri…e…?" he repeated. The name does ring a bell, but he still wasn't sure. But Rie didn't seem to be bad, so he took her in his hands and set her down beside his pillow, and he himself lied down as well.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I'm feeling a little sick right now."

Rie shook her head, her light unruly hair fluffing around her face.

"Mmn." Homura's eyes slipped closed for a while. "So, by Master, you mean Suzuya, right?"

"Yes!"

"And…? Why are you so far away from your 'Master'?"

"Oh! That is because he sent me here. Ah, no. Actually, Kirinosuke-sama has told Master about something, and they had sent me here to check on you."

"Really? What did Kii say?"

"Um… He said that, 'something seems to be off; Homura seems to be hiding something from us'. So I have come here to check. Homura-sama, has something strange happened to you?"

_Ah… It must be because of my arm. _

"Actually…" He held out his arm for Rie to see.

"Is it something bad?" he asked.

"No. It is left by a youkai that wishes to tell you that something bad is about to happen. But it is quite rare for one to do so. Maybe one took a liking to you?"

"… Something bad is about to happen?"

* * *

Rie sat by Homura's side, watching him sleep. He had drifted off minutes earlier, in the middle of a sentence he didn't get to finish. With him no longer conscious, she was free to glower at him all she wanted. She still hadn't really forgiven him for being of higher status than her own master. That would mean that she is two ranks under a petty human! She glared at him some more.

Not only was this human ignorant, but stupid, too. What did he mean, feeling sick. He just looked like he was a little drunk, didn't he? She didn't understand how special he is for her master and Kirinosuke to willingly accompany him every time.

Seeing his stunned face was pretty amusing, she admitted. Judging from his expression, however, it wasn't totally clear whether he had been expecting that sort of outcome or not. But he had really looked troubled, looking over his two sleeping companions and asking about the rest, even. Kirinosuke had told her that it is very hard for humans who can see youkai, how they would always face problems with fellow humans who don't understand their situation.

With that in mind she got up and trotted to the other two, observing them. The one in the middle is the famous Natsume Takashi, holder of the Yuujinchou. Very, very famous for always giving help to youkai when they asked for it, and giving back their names his deceased grandmother had collected. To some he may be thought of as a fool, for getting involved with spirits even though he never really wanted to.

Rie still didn't know what to think of this boy. She had only heard rumors from other youkai and from her master and Kirinosuke. But Natsume Takashi is said to be someone very, very kind, he even has a number of youkai friends.

The next is an exorcist. Her master had told her not to get close to him at all, though it was okay to tease him. In truth she had no idea exactly how one could tease somebody when one cannot get close to him.

She whistled, a soft, low tune, so as not to disturb the ones sleeping. The bird she came with fluttered to her side, and she stroked the sweet thing, petting it.

Then, with one last look behind her, she hopped on to the creature and took off to relay her message to her master.

* * *

The rest of the trip passed by okay, and it proved to be a very calming weekend. When Homura had woken up after that night, though, he was unclear about a few things he and Rie talked about before he fell asleep. Then he had found out how he had accidentally drunk alcohol. And Natsume and Natori had laughed over Homura's reaction. Then with Natori sending them back to their homes, the trip was over.

A few weeks had passed with nothing much interesting. Homura had helped Natsume out with something youkai-related, settled some things with a few youkai with Suzuya and Kirinosuke, and told some of the interesting stuff to Tanuma.

He knew he wasn't supposed to tell Tanuma much, since Natsume was always trying his best not to involve him, but he kind of understood both teens' feelings. Natsume just doesn't want Tanuma to get hurt because of him and youkai, and left him out at times, but he would always go to his side every other time. Tanuma, on the other hand, wanted to be of more help, only his actions were a bit restricted.

Homura knew he wasn't supposed to step into their relationship, but he can't help feeling sorry for Tanuma. Especially since Natsume was busy these days. So he would accompany him sometimes and tell him some of the interesting, none-too-dangerous adventures, and answer his many questions. As long as, of course, he didn't tell Natsume any of their little talks. Tanuma was happy, so that was all that matters. At least now the three of them seemed a little closer than before.

He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, and dug it out to read the text message. It was from Nishimura, asking him whether he wanted to go for a little walk in the forest. Kitamoto, Natsume and Tanuma are going too.

He got up from the couch and stretched.

"Where are you going?" Kirinosuke asked.

"A walk. With the others," he replied.

"Oh? Well, I sure do hope nothing bad is gonna happen to you on your little 'trip', Homura-kun," Suzuya said, voice dripping with heavy sarcasm.

Yep, Suzuya had been on a tight wire lately. Because of the meanings of the markings on his arm before. They were gone a few days after the marks ended at his wrist, and the two youkai had been on a close lookout for any danger. But they found nothing in the end, that was why Suzuya was in a bad mood.

"Mm, I hope not. But so far nothing's happened, right? Doesn't it mean that it could just be a prank?" he questioned, slipping on his coat.

"Maybe, maybe not," Kii said.

"I'll get going now," Homura said, putting on his shoes.

"Bye."

"Get your bottom back here before dark, get it?" Suzuya reminded him.

Homura sighed. "Fine, Suzuya. Bye."

He sure hoped he had taken Suzuya's words seriously, because what happened to him next, was the worst thing to ever happen to him, aside from Seiji's death.

* * *

They were talking and laughing, walking at a leisurely pace. Then his phone rang, and though he hesitated since the person who was calling him was unknown to him, he picked it up anyway.

"_Is this Akatsuki Homura?"_

"Eh? Ah, yes. This is…?"

The others heard a soft gasp, and turned around to see what the matter was. Homura's eyes were wide with terror, his face deathly pale.

"Homura…?" Kitamoto said cautiously.

Homura's lips trembled; he dropped his cell phone and collapsed to his knees. By then the others knew that something was very wrong.

"Homura, what's wrong?" Natsume asked worriedly. Homura looked like he had just seen the world's most horrifying monster.

"_Hello? Hello? Akatsuki Hom—"_

* * *

_**Yaaaay~ Finally a chapter in some time~~ It's just that I'm reeeaally busy lately, with school, mainly.**_

_**EVEN SO I HAVE NOT DONE MOST OF MY HOMEWORK. XD**_

_**AND I HAVE MY MIDYEAR EXAMS IN TWO WEEKS AND I HAVE NOT STUDIED A SINGLE THING FOR MY 10 SUBJECTS. I AM SO GONNA FAIL MY PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY. lllorz**_

_**So. This chapter has a lot going on, doesn't it? By the way, is that how a hangover is? That. [points to top of page] I don't know so I just wrote how I liked it. **_

_**Ooh, ooh, and also, I, milky, have been thrown into the wonderful world of BL~~ -W- I so love NojiKen, his voice is so cute, but I don't know where I could find a listing of drama CDs he'd voiced. I like Sugita Tomokazu too! I was like 'Tanuma! It's Tanuma! I get to listen to Tanuma!' but then when I listened to the freetalks I was like 'woah. His voice is SO different it's actually funny.' But I did like the way he fooled around with Toriumi-san and Takeuchi-san. Now that was funny. They were talking about first kisses and gakuran and more kisses.  
**_

_**Well then, I hope I'll be able to write the next chapter real soon, so… Bye bye for now~ **_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Hey~~ It's been quite a long time since I updated, OTL. Anyway, I didn't like the last chapter at all, so I rewrote it. The first half is the same as the one before this however, so you can skip it if you want. **_

* * *

_Phantasmagoria_

_Natsume Yuujinchou_

_Chapter 21_

Tanuma's eyes travelled down to the hunched over teen, worried. Homura had not said anything for a while now, nor did he move much. He, on the other hand, was the one going back and forth, torn between the need to strike up a conversation to relieve the tension or just be there by Homura's side instead.

In the end he flopped down on the seat next to Homura, rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. If Homura had been alert enough to notice his presence right beside him, he didn't show it.

He wouldn't say that 'everything is going to be all right', because it doesn't apply to most of the many unfortunate things that happen every day. But he did wish he could say _something_, anything that could at least relieve some of the horrible feelings his friend might be experiencing right then.

Homura sighed inwardly. _Hospitals_, he thought.

_I hate them._

* * *

It had only been a few weeks ago, when he felt like calling his parents. He rarely ever did, usually his mother would be the one calling him, and then they would talk a while before she handed the phone to his father.

He had been curled up in the couch, when Suzuya and Kirinosuke weren't in the house.

"Hi," he said, awkwardly.

"_Hey, Homu-chan." _His father was the one who had picked up.

"Stop calling me that, I'm not a kid anymore."

His father laughed. _"And? It's so rare for you to call, I assume something must have happened? How's the apartment? How are you holding up? Are the neighbors nice? What about friends? Do you have more friends now? Oh, and—"_

"Stop. Stop. I'm fine here, really." His father was always like that. His mother, too. Always asking about him. Always stopping midsentence to continue on to the next topic. Not that he disliked it, not really.

At the other end of the line, Akatsuki Renjou smiled. His son seemed to be okay. He was always worried for him, ever since the day they had found out about his apparent gift. But as much as he wanted his wife and himself to stay by their son's side at all times and protect him, he couldn't. Their jobs required them to travel around frequently. Sometimes he thought that maybe, he had made a mistake. Maybe they should just quit, go back to Japan, start over. But then Homura would tell them that he's alright and they needn't worry.

They continued on talking for a while, and Renjou picked up on the little hints in Homura's voice he scattered here and there. His son's voice told him that he was not okay, no matter how many times he said otherwise. His son's voice told him that he has friends, that he felt a bit lonely, that there were many, many things he wanted to say but couldn't. Probably about Kagurazaka Seiji. He knew that Homura still hadn't gotten over his friend's death; he didn't expect him to for quite some time.

In truth he felt guilty. He couldn't even manage to go back to Japan for just a little while to embrace his son and say soothing words to him that will lose its effectiveness over a phone and distance. The night when his son had called him, sobs exploding in his ears the second he picked up, had to be the worst day in his life. The call lasted over an hour and his ear hurt, but he was with his son right to the end, until he was finally too exhausted to utter a word anymore. Homura didn't ask for his mother, nor did he intend to pass the phone to her. Both knew she would be worried sick, maybe even worse than what he had been feeling throughout his son's crying.

Then his son started talking about a group of nice-sounding friends—he even laughed while he was telling him about somebody named Tanuma and board games. Aah, he had wanted to spend a weekend playing with his son, too.

"_That's great. I'm happy for you."_

Homura had been wondering whether his father had meant the fact that he had made friends, or whether he was able to slip out of his pathetic depressed state, little by little.

"… I miss you, Dad," he'd said quietly. His father had to strain his ear to hear him.

After that Homura asked for the phone to be passed on to his mother, and Renjou made a decision.

He would go back to Japan, for about three weeks, maybe, with his wife. They would buy presents first, since Homura's birthday was coming up, and they would surprise him. He was excited. His wife was excited. They hoped Homura would be happy too.

* * *

Homura's mind ran over the things that happened ever since he'd gotten the call. It was from the hospital staff. Saying that his parents had gotten involved in an accident, which, he realized later, had been a mere half hour away from where they all were.

He didn't even know his parents had planned to come back to Japan, so it was all a big shock. Big enough to cause him to want to yell at the person at the other end of the line to stop messing with him and shut up.

And then he'd asked the others where the hospital mentioned was, and while Natsume tried to get him to calm down Kitamoto scribbled a map on a piece of paper. He and Nishimura had wanted to tag along, but they had to go home before dinner. Natsume wanted to get home, maybe he would come with Touko-san and Shigeru-san later on. Tanuma followed him.

Even though a nurse had told him about what had happened, how the taxi they had been in veered off route and crashed, her voice pissed him off. It was the exact same kind of reassuring, calming, counseling voices he so hated. That kind of voices had accompanied him all throughout his stay at the hospital a long while ago. He told her to stop dallying and get straight to the point.

_Everything is so messed up._

"… Do you think they're dying?" he asked.

"What?" Being hunched over like that, Tanuma couldn't hear him.

"Are they… Are they dying?" he asked again, his hands clenching.

"Homura…" Truthfully, he didn't know what to say. He understood a little of what Homura must be feeling, since his own mother had died too, but that was years ago. And he only found out when she had already died and his father told him. He didn't find out through a call and had to wait in a hospital like this. He still has his father. Natsume lost both parents too, but he now has the Fujiwaras.

Homura doesn't have anything left.

* * *

The following events happened in a blur for him. The Fujiwara couple helped to arrange the funeral for him and send out invitations and finding out distant relatives and acquaintances, while he mostly just lingered around. On the day of the wake itself he tried to prove useful to Touko and Shigeru by sitting at the front desk and receiving all the condolence money without being asked, and though it felt as bad as he expected it to be, with people talking to him in sympathetic tones and others in prying but hushed voices behind his back, he made an effort not to take notice. He'd heard the words 'unlucky', 'nothing but trouble' and some others but as long as they said nothing bad of his parents and Seiji, that's okay.

Most of what they said were, in some way, true, after all.

"Hey," Natsume greeted, coming closer. Homura thought he looked quite nice in a suit, but would do better if only he'd put on a little more weight. He imagined him being older and ruff out his hairstyle a bit, maybe put on sunglasses and have a gun strapped to his belt. He nearly laughed. _That would look interesting. But I doubt he'd be a very violent yakuza. Maybe he could be the type to 'persuade'. _

Homura had been looking at him so intently Natsume felt unnerved. _Maybe he's feeling sick…?_

"Um, Homura?"

"Yes?" he answered back immediately, snapping out of his untimely delusions. "What's up?"

"I'll take it from here. You go inside. The service is about to start," he said.

Homura's eyes darkened. "… I see." Does he really need to go in there? Walk in there with people's fixated stares boring holes into his back? Listen to more talk about him and his family?

Of course he needed to. He was their only son, their only remaining heir. He had to chin up and pay his last respects to them before he really couldn't see them anymore, before they send them to the crematorium and nothing but milky white crumbling bones come out, before he'd have to pick them up with chopsticks and place them in an urn, before incense filled his nostrils with its heady scent and cloud his mind, before white lilies and people in black clothes blinded him.

Of course he needed to.

* * *

Homura skipped a whole week of school after that. He wasn't trying to trouble anyone; he just wasn't ready yet. He didn't want people to pity him and start talking to him all of a sudden, he just wished they would leave him be and treat him like they always did. But then the time came for him to go to school, before he got a letter for frequent absence. Now that will only spell trouble for him.

Not that being at home was entirely peaceful anyway. The house was eerie quiet the first few days, though Homura hardly noticed how awkward Suzuya was being while he was sitting around staring off into space, with the tengu giving out his bossy 'orders' as before only to stop himself short in the middle. Kirinosuke wasn't being unusual. He would just pet his head sometimes or give him comforting squeezes and tell him to go to bed when it was late. Even Rie dropped by occasionally, always arriving perched on different little forest animals and always bringing something with her: berries, sweet-smelling flowers and petite human trinkets. Homura had no idea what the bright, colorful, glittering beads and pins and marbles are for, but Rie always seemed to favor them so he didn't question her, and kept them in a little wooden box where she often checked every now and then and played with them.

None of them brought up the slightest hint of his parents' death or the funeral, and he was thankful for that. But he didn't like the idea of them keeping their distances.

His friends called, but he never answered, sending a brief text message informing about his welfare instead. But one day Touko got really worried and pressed Natsume into bringing her to his home, and he just had time to tidy up some and send Suzuya and Kirinosuke out of the way for a few hours before the doorbell rang.

She had asked him how he was doing, just like everybody else did whom he ignored. He tried to act normal, but both Natsume and her were looking at him weird so he guessed his smile must've been quite unconvincing. Homura knew the flowers they'd brought along were for the altar and so was waiting for them to tell him so. They didn't. He politely asked and led them to the altar. He kept it clean and prayed every day, though honestly he disliked the scent of incense and rarely lights them.

He had waited, on edge, for Touko-san and Natsume to finish paying their respects to his dead parents.

… Back to the matter at hand. He'd woken up early and prepared everything for school, and now that he was all ready to go, after finishing his breakfast, he started to get a little bit paranoid. He didn't know how to act. Would people know when they see him walking to school among them? Would they start talking then? What would happen once he entered class? He imagined deathly silence as he slid open the classroom door to countless pairs of eyes staring up at him. What about the teachers? Would they try to comfort him or just ignore him? He didn't know which was better.

What should he do if there were flowers on top of his desk and letters inside? Homura's heart skipped a beat. Last time—after the Seiji incident when he'd finished his rehabilitation—there were flowers. He'd totally understand it had they been on only Seiji's desk, but his had them, too. As if the other classmates had known he would be going to school again that day and decide to make the rest of his life more of a living hell than it already was.

He suddenly lost the appetite to finish his food.

"What's wrong? Eat up or you will be late," Kirinosuke reminded him. Beside the fox-eared youkai Suzuya was stuffing his face with rice and fish and eggs, too busy to even notice.

Homura smiled at him, at the same time wondering what would happen if he happened to kick the stupid tengu from under the table right then. "Nothing." He forced down mouthfuls and got up to go.

"Homura," Kirinosuke called.

"Yes?"

"Itterasshai."

He smiled another time.

"Ittekimasu."


End file.
